


Nobody Fulfils a Fantasy Like Prussia

by VampireNaomi



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Blindfolds, Double Penetration, Frottage, Getting Together, Light Bondage, M/M, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-13
Updated: 2013-04-13
Packaged: 2017-12-08 09:03:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 82,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/759568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireNaomi/pseuds/VampireNaomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prussia discovers that Romano likes to write kinky porn about the two of them and decides to fulfil all of his fantasies. But the way into Romano's bed - and heart! - is longer and more difficult than he expects.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this story on the Hetalia kink meme. Chapters 1, 2 and 20 include sex scenes, but the other chapters are clean.

Prussia opened the door to Romano's room and poked his head in. Based on how Italy kept berating his brother for being untidy and not taking out the trash often enough, he was expecting something resembling a junk yard. 

Instead, the room looked perfectly normal, even clean in his eyes. One shirt was hastily thrown on the bed, and Romano hadn't replaced all the books he had been reading on the shelf, but other than that, the room was practically shining in comparison to Prussia's den in the basement of Germany's house.

“Haha, let's see what he's got here,” he said to himself as stepped in and closed the door behind him.

He and Germany were on a weekend visit to Italy's house in Venice. Italy had invited them over to enjoy some small, local festival with them, but Prussia wasn't too updated on all the details. All he cared about was getting to see that cute Italy again. Maybe he'd manage to steal him from Germany's grasp for a moment or two.

However, he'd have to be really lucky for that to happen. Not only was Germany aware of his constant attempts to get Italy's attention, but Romano was against him as well. Prussia had no idea if the southern half was just being an over-protective big brother or if his behaviour was motivated by his “utter disgust for potato-sucking bastards”, as he had put it earlier that day. Either way, Romano was doing his damnest to make sure Prussia didn't get his hands on Italy.

Right now, Prussia was the only one at the house. Germany and Italy had left earlier to buy some groceries for the dinner that Italy wanted to cook that evening. Romano had stayed with Prussia for a while, but it hadn't taken long before his awesome company had become too much for him to handle. He had declared how he hated him and then marched out, his fists clenched and face so red that he resembled a tomato.

Prussia had quickly grown bored of having nobody but Gilbird to talk to. It wasn't that he didn't like being alone (he loved it!), but usually he had at least some comic books or his computer for entertainment. Now he had nothing, so he had decided that he was perfectly within his rights to take a peek into Romano's room. After all, Romano was being a terrible host by dumping him like that, so who could blame Prussia for seeking out his own fun?

Now, where should he look first? Maybe Romano had some interesting music or movies he could watch? Or maybe he'd end up finding some embarrassing secrets, like love letters to Spain. Romano and Spain weren't officially together, but they had been so close for so many years that everyone was just waiting for Spain to finally get a clue and make the first move.

Prussia pulled open one of the drawers on the nightstand. Hmm, just a comb, some coins and a bottle opener of all things. He closed the drawer and opened the next one. In that one, there was nothing but a notebook with a blank cover.

Intrigued, Prussia took it out. Maybe it was a diary. He of all people knew that diary writing was serious business, and for a moment he felt a stab of guilt about what he was going to do. But then he reasoned that it was Romano's own fault for not hiding the notebook better. 

He smirked and greedily turned the first page. Romano's handwriting was a little messy, he noted before he started reading.

_I couldn't see anything. The blindfold over my eyes didn't let me even make out the difference between light and shadow._

_The leather straps binding my wrists to the bedpost were biting painfully into my skin, not enough to draw blood but certainly enough to bruise. I shifted in discomfort, but there was no getting out of the kneeling position I had been forced into on the bed. My hands were bound high enough so that I couldn't rest on my legs but had to remain on my knees and with my ass in the air._

_A rough hand came down on my buttocks, circling the flesh with the thumb and threatening to dip into the crack between my cheeks. I had been told to remain absolutely still, but I couldn't stop myself from pushing into the touch._

_Slap!_

_Without a warning, stinging pain blossomed on my skin as the hand came down to smack me for trying to break the rules. I whined against the gag in my mouth and arched my back to get away from the pain, but secretly I yearned for more._

“Oh, my God, I don't believe this!” Prussia said as he realised what he was reading. This was obvious porn. And not just any porn, but one that Romano had clearly written himself. Man, that was just priceless! Who would have thought that under that grumpy surface lived an aspiring erotica author?

This was way, way better than any diary could be. He so had to finish reading this before Romano came back. This offered mocking material for the next few centuries.

_Another slap landed on my bottom, right next to the previous spot. I sucked in a breath and bit into the gag to stay silent. It was a futile effort, I knew, but the stubborn part of me didn't want to succumb that easily to everything that he was doing to me._

_Three, four, five – each blow he gave me left my ass aflame, but the pain didn't register fully until he stopped for a moment to let me take in the sensation. My fingers curled as I tensed at the sting, but at the same time I felt a sense of triumph at that I hadn't completely given in._

_I heard him snort._

_“Aww, you really think you have any control here? That's cute. Hang onto that for as long as you can. When I'm done with you, you're going to be crying and begging for me to take you.”_

_I felt like rolling my eyes at his cocky tone. It was always the same with this bastard. He would wake up one morning with some of his beloved German sausage up his ass if I didn't love him so much._

“Huh,” Prussia said and rubbed his cheek. That kind of sounded like... Nah, it couldn't be. Romano would never write porn about himself. He was just letting his own personality mix with that of the protagonist. Amateur writers always did that.

_More smacks landed on my bottom, and this time they were struck at spots that were already burning with the previous blows. It was harder for me to keep my groans to myself, but I was determined not to let him hear my discomfort – at least not yet, for I knew that this was only the beginning of what he had planned for me._

_Suddenly, the slaps stopped and I was left waiting, panting through my nose and not knowing what to expect. I wished that I didn't have the blindfold on so that I could turn to glance at him over my shoulder, to see the look in those red eyes and the arousal that I was sure was tinting his pale cheeks._

_Because as much as the potato fucker liked to think he was awesome and in complete control, I knew that doing this to me made him weak in the knees. That was my ace in our relationship._

“Whaaaat?” Prussia blurted out, nearly dropping the notebook. These weren't coincidences anymore! This really was about Romano himself? What the fuck, he actually wrote down his own fantasies? Prussia didn't know whether he should have laughed at that or felt somewhat impressed. Romano had more guts than he had expected. And this scenario was way riskier than he had ever expected of him.

And this person who had Romano bound to the bed and was giving him the spanking of his life... Could it be him? There was no other option. It actually made sense. After all, who didn't have explicit sexual fantasies about the awesomeness that was him?

Prussia covered his eyes with his hand and laughed. This was just brilliant! He... he honestly didn't have words for this! When Romano came back and resumed his griping about how much he hated him, he'd so use this as a counter attack. He couldn't wait to see Romano's face once he told him that he knew what he really thought of him. 

But first he'd finish reading. He had better hurry if he wanted to do it before anyone came back.

_I didn't know how much timed passed with him alternating between spanking me and stopping abruptly to make me squirm. Sometimes he brought his hands to my buttocks and rubbed them, simultaneously easing the sting and creating sharp friction between his skin and mine. I shivered at every touch, wondering how much more he would make me endure and what would happen next._

_“Okay, I guess that's enough,” ~~Prus~~ he said._

Ha, his name! He was right!

_I felt both excitement and nervousness well up in my stomach. The spanking had been about to grow more painful than I liked, so I was glad that it was over, but now I no longer knew what was going to happen. I tried to ease my breathing so that I'd be better prepared for whatever the bastard had in mind._

_I flinched when the hands returned to my buttocks, this time to pull them apart. I opened my legs wider, knowing that the next step might be uncomfortable otherwise. A finger traced down to my entrance and circled it, barely touching it. I felt a shiver travel down my body right down to the tips of my toes._

_“You like that, huh?”_

_The spanking had already left me half-hard, but the faint touches on my sensitive hole quickly finished the job until my erection was standing against my stomach, leaking pre-cum. My breathing, which I had worked so goddamn hard to bring under control, had reversed to panting, and I ached for him to touch me more, to grab my length or to slip his finger inside._

_Instead, he retreated entirely. I heard him move around in the room and how a cap was screwed open. Maybe it was lube; maybe he was going to prepare me and take me already._

_He returned, one hand grabbing my ass and pushing the buttocks apart with his fingers. Before I had the time to wonder what he was doing, I felt something cold and blunt come to rest at my entrance._

_“I'm not going to prepare you for this, so you had better relax,” he said._

_I swallowed nervously and nodded, trying to force the tension out of my muscles. But it was difficult with that unfamiliar object against me. I didn't know what it was – and with the bastard's stupid imagination, it could be anything from a bicycle pump to a wooden spoon – but I could tell that it was big. The thought of it entering me without any preparation filled me with apprehension, but at the same time I couldn't wait for him to get started._

_There was suddenly more pressure, and the object began to push inside. I held my breath and instinctively tensed, trying to stop it from entering. Even though he had covered it in lube, it couldn't possibly go inside, at least not without hurting like hell, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go that far._

_“I told you to relax,” came the impatient command._

_Easy for him to say, I thought vindictively, but then his hand moved to rest at the small of my back, his thumb caressing me in small circles._

_“It's going in one way or another. It's up to you whether it's unpleasant or really unpleasant,” he said._

_His words had no soothing effect, but the tone of his voice helped me loosen a little. There was also the fact that I knew I could use the signal we had agreed on if things got out of hand._

_He began to push the object again, this time with more force, and I grunted and bit into the gag as I felt it enter and open me up._

_Only the tip of the object was inside, but it was stretching me just enough to be painful. Since he had stopped, I assumed that he was going to let me adjust before pushing the rest inside. A moment later I realised this was exactly what he had wanted me to think because in the next instant, he gave the object a powerful shove that sent it fully inside me._

_I bucked and screamed against the gag, both in surprise and pain. I felt my whole passage sting as it was forced to accept the item, and I was suddenly glad for the blindfold that hid the tears that had sprung to my eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to bring my trembling body under control, but there was nothing to distract me from the sharp ache of being stretched too much, too fast._

_That fucker, I thought to myself and clenched my hands into fists. He was going to pay for this! He would –_

_“There, there,” he said, and his hands came to stroke my hair. “You'll get used to it soon.”_

_His fingers found the sensitive curl and rubbed it, giving me some much-needed pleasure to make me forget how uncomfortable I was at the moment. Slowly, the pain faded to a tolerable level, which he seemed to notice from the loosening of my muscles._

_“Guess what I just put inside you?” he asked, laughter in his voice. “Oh, right, you can't talk. Well, I'll give you a really good clue.”_

_Click._

_I jerked as the object inside me suddenly started vibrating. Fucking hell! The bastard had put a vibrator in me! It was resting right against my prostate, making me shiver involuntarily. I could tell that it was at the lowest setting, so it wasn't yet doing much more than making me squirm in hopes of getting more._

_To my surprise, I felt his hand reach for my erection. At first I thought this would be a repeat of the previous time, that he might rub me into climax and leave the vibrator inside me to stimulate the overly sensitive spot until I was begging him to show me mercy. But then his hand was joined by thin rope, and with a sense of dread I realised what he was doing._

_With a few swift movements he had captured my erection and scrotum with the rope. I bit back a groan as he finished the job and pulled it tight. We had done this once before, so I knew what was in store for me. The way he had tied the rope was far more effective than a cock ring, making it very difficult for me to climax until he chose to let me._

_“Man, you're a beautiful sight,” he said as he removed his hands._

_How I wanted to flip him the finger._

_“Let's see what happens when I do this,” he said. His words were followed by a click, and the vibrations inside me suddenly increased, nearly to an unbearable level. I moaned and arched my back, hoping that he would start thrusting the vibrator in and out to ease the constant assault on my prostate or that he'd distract me from it by grabbing my length._

_But no such thing happened. He didn't touch me again but left me writhing on the bed. I could feel the hair on my neck stand up as shivers travelled through my body. Holy fuck, I was going to kill the bastard once he let me free! The vibrations inside were driving me crazy, and I wanted to come so bad._

_Slap!_

_I jerked, at first too surprised to understand what had happened. Then I registered familiar pain on my buttocks and realised that he had resumed the spanking. The brief pause had left me more sensitive than I realised, and I tried to change my position to make myself less vulnerable to another blow._

_The vibrator was turned to the highest setting, followed by four more slaps on my behind. I screamed, but I didn't know if it was in pain or pleasure. I realised I would have come at that moment if it hadn't been for the rope blocking my release._

_My hips bucked with every blow, trying to escape the offensive hand. Soon I no longer knew if I was feeling pain or pleasure. My tears had returned, and I was moaning at every hit that landed on my sensitive behind. Some part of me was wondering why I wasn't calling it quits already, but I was too consumed by my desire. I loved it when he did this to me because I knew that he would never break the rules that we had set, that I could trust him completely, that he would never hurt me if I told him no._

_Just as I was starting to feel that I couldn't go on anymore, the spanking stopped, and he turned off the vibrator. I let out a sigh of relief at finally having some rest from the stimulation on my prostate, but my erection was still aching. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, feel the throb in every sensitive spot that he had abused tonight._

_I felt hands at the back of my head, and suddenly the blindfold came off. I wanted to hide my face into my hands so that he wouldn't see my teary eyes. Even after all this time, I hated it when he saw me cry._

_He caught my chin with his hand and forced my head up. He was looking at me with an unusually serious expression for him. His hand moved to nuzzle my cheek and wipe away the tears._

_“Aww, don't cry,” he said and began to remove the blindfold. As soon as he was done, he pulled me into a kiss. I arched into it, desperate for some gentleness after what he had just put me through._

_“Bastard,” I muttered as he pulled away._

_He chuckled. “Oh, we aren't done yet. I just want to hear you better when you beg.”_

_I snorted, but to be honest, I was already almost at my breaking point. The need for release had grown nearly painful, and I was be ready to do almost anything if he asked me._

_He moved behind me again and pulled out the vibrator. I was left feeling empty, but that wasn't for long. I heard him unzip his pants, and in the next instant he was already inside me – no surprise that he was hard. I was actually pretty impressed he had been able to keep his hands away from his crotch and not stroke himself to climax long before this._

_The vibrator had left me prepared, so it didn't hurt when he pushed into me. He was warm, and even though I was already sore, I enjoyed the feeling of him inside me. I moaned when he began to thrust, the sound awfully loud in my ears since it was no longer being blocked by the gag._

_I listened to his groans as he slammed into me. My behind was stinging from the spanking, so every time his hips connected with mine, a jolt of pain mixed with the pleasure. His hand travelled down to grab my erection, sliding up and down the length and stopping to tease the slit._

_“Please,” I breathed out._

_“Please what?”_

_“You know!”_

_“No, I – ah – don't!”_

_Each of his thrusts met my prostate, and the pressure and need inside me were building up to the point that if this went on for much longer, I'd be unable to find my release at all. After all this, I didn't want to risk that._

_“Let me come!” I snarled when another thrust made me feel like I would explode._

_For a moment, I was sure that the bastard still had some tricks up his sleeve, that he was going to make me promise something embarrassing, but then he abruptly stopped moving. His hands went to the rope that was binding me, and we remained close, he inside me, as he worked to release me. It was my favourite moment, I realised, having him that close and just enjoying the warmth of his body against mine. Too bad I'd probably never have the guts to tell him that._

_I let out a sigh of relief as I felt the rope come off._

_“Ready?” he muttered against my skin._

_“Ye –” I started, but he began to move before I had the time to finish. I grunted as he pulled out and back in again, and it didn't take more than a few thrusts before I reached my long-awaited climax, shooting semen on my stomach and the bed._

_My release left me groggy and exhausted, but he wasn't done yet. This was always my least favourite part; I hated coming first when I was the bottom because the feeling of my over-sensitive nerves being stimulated left me squirming in discomfort. Thankfully it didn't take much longer for him to come as well, and he –_

Prussia stopped reading at this point. The grin had died from his face a long time ago, and now he could only think of how utterly hot that story had been and how tight his trousers suddenly were. This was no laughing matter. This was awesome.

A quick flip through the notebook revealed that it was filled with more porn written by Romano. He knew that he didn't have the time to read more now and that he might never get another chance to sneak into Romano's room. He recalled seeing a copy machine in Italy's tiny office down the hall, so he quickly jumped to his feet and ran there, desperate to copy the whole thing before anyone came back.

Some agonizing fifteen minutes later, he had a copy of every page in the book. He returned the original to Romano's room, and after that he still had ten minutes to himself in the bathroom before the others returned.


	2. Chapter 2

Prussia was itching to read the rest of the stories as soon as he had a moment alone, but he didn't dare do so while they were still in Italy. He was bunking on the coach in the living room, and Romano kept an eye on him like a hawk, no doubt ready to kick him in the balls if he got too close to his brother.

Prussia was also watching him, playing out the story in his head and imagining Romano naked, writhing under him and moaning his name.

“I don't think Italian food sits well with Prussia. He's spending a lot of time in the bathroom,” Italy said on the last evening of their stay.

“Serves him right. He doesn't deserve to enjoy it,” Romano grumbled.

Everyone was seated on the couch and watching TV, even Romano even though he kept complaining that he had much better things to do on a Sunday evening than watch crap with two bastards and one brain-dead idiot. 

Prussia was all too glad that they were sitting on opposite ends of the couch. There wasn't a lot of space, so they were all pushed against each other, and if he had been that close to Romano, he just might have let his mind wander too far towards... 

Fuck, abort that trail of thought! Otherwise the others might think that he got turned on from sitting next to Germany or by the horse on TV. He had no idea which would put a bigger dent on his awesome image.

“That's what happens when you eat too much,” Germany said. “You should be careful, Italy. I've told you not to full yourself like that.”

“But I'm not having problems with my stomach!”

Prussia leaned over to shoot an irritated glare at the others. “Hey, I'm right here, you know! At least include me in the conversation if you're going to talk about my bowel movements!”

“If you don't all shut up right now I'm turning off the TV!” Romano snapped.

“That's okay. I wanted to go to my bedroom with Germany anyway.”

“The fuck you're going anywhere.”

Prussia listened to the argument that broke out and mused that it was no wonder Romano was writing stories in which he was being thoroughly dominated. It had to be hard to live his life as a firecracker that blew up at the slightest provocation and was stubborn as a mule, even when it was obvious he was wrong. It wasn't surprising that he was dreaming of someone just _taking_ him and making him submit.

And of course the person who was doing that to him in his fantasies was him, the awesome Prussia! He didn't actually know if he was in all of the stories or if Romano had been fucked by the whole world in his head, but he reasoned that since he had been in the first story, he was the best. Man, he couldn't wait to get back home so that he could read the rest and see what other dirty scenes Romano's mind had conjured up.

***

The following day, he and Germany said goodbye to the two Italies and started to head home.

“What are you being so smug about?” Germany asked once they were seated in the airplane.

“Nothing, West. Absolutely nothing,” Prussia said with a grin and clutched his hand baggage against his chest. Ha, he had made it out of Italy with his treasure! Now nobody could take those precious pages from him. Even if Romano somehow noticed that his notebook had been touched, there was nothing he could do now.

“I hope you didn't smuggle anything illegal through the customs. I've told you to behave when we visit the others.”

“I'm always on my best behaviour. It's not my fault if the others don't appreciate my –”

“You should put that under the seat in front of you,” Germany said before he could finish.

Prussia didn't want to let go of his booty, but he knew that if he picked a fight about it, Germany would confiscate it and who knew if he'd ever get it back? Either he'd be scolded for taking it or Germany would like it and keep it to himself. Better not take any risks.

Prussia had never been so glad to be at home as when he stormed through the front door and kicked away his shoes. He ignored Germany's question about if he could go and get the dogs from the neighbours while he parked the car and ran to the basement, locking the door behind him.

“Let's see,” he said and opened the bag where he had hidden the copied pages.

He organized the pages into a neat pile on his bed and then sorted out the story that he had already read. Romano's handwriting was a little more difficult to read now that he had to resort to copies, but he was used to deciphering his own scribbles and was sure he'd get the hang of it soon.

_He hadn't tied me down this time. I was lying on my stomach on the bed, my cheek resting against the mattress as I waited. He often did this when there was something new he wanted to try out. Being unrestrained forced me to keep my reactions in check and submit because I wanted to, not because I had no other choice. It also made it easier for me to end the whole thing if it became too much._

_I heard him move behind me. I was curious, but I didn't turn to look. He always liked to catch me by surprise, and I guess I could give him at least that satisfaction._

_“I got an awesome idea last night, and I want to give it a go,” he said._

_I rolled my eyes, though he couldn't see it. A lot of his awesome ideas had turned painful or at least uncomfortable. Sometimes I didn't know why I kept letting him do this to me._

_“Then at least get on with it,” I snapped._

_He placed something on the bed by my side. I barely had the time to wonder what it was when I felt his hands move to my ass. I flinched in surprise as he went straight for my hole and pushed one lube-covered finger inside. He usually liked to tease me and make me tremble with the need to have him inside me, so I couldn't help but frown in confusion._

_He was moving his finger around and carefully avoiding brushing against my prostate. I closed my eyes in mortification as he began to hum something under his breath just before he added a second finger and started to stretch me more. It wasn't uncomfortable; he was being very thorough and gave me plenty of time to adjust before trying my limits just a little more._

_“What the hell are you doing?” I asked after this had gone on for a while. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had said he had an idea, I would have thought he was only preparing me for a very thorough fuck. We would sometimes do it like that, without me being aroused prior to him taking me._

_“Making sure you won't bite my head off in a minute,” he replied and added a third finger._

_I tried not to squirm at the increased fullness and wondered what he meant by that, but my thoughts were cut off when he finally pressed against my prostate, making me jerk as a jolt of pleasure surprised me. I hid my face into the mattress so that it would be easier to keep quiet, no matter how tempting it was to groan as he kept rubbing that one spot inside me._

_“Don't get too excited yet. This is just to keep you in a good mood.”_

_“Just what the fuck are you planning there?” I asked._

_“Don't worry. I'll let you know soon, so you can say no if you don't like it. But I'm sure you'll love it.”_

_His fingers left me, and he came to sit at the edge of the bed. He was holding an anal vibrator in his hand. That wasn't what surprised me since the bastard liked to stick those things into me. What did make me wonder a little was the size of it. It wasn't small by any means, but I had certainly taken bigger._

_“This is soon going into you,” he announced._

_“Okay?” I questioned and lifted a brow. “And then what?”_

_“And then –”_

“Prussia!” came Germany's impatient shout from upstairs. 

Prussia put down the page in irritation and grimaced. Hell, nobody could ruin his fun better than his brother.

“What?”

“I've been calling out to you several times! Please come up here!”

“No, I'm busy!”

“I need you to go to the store and buy milk!”

“What? Why can't _you_ go to the store?”

“I've already started cooking dinner!”

Prussia bit back an impatient yell about what he could do with his dinner. As much as it bugged him how often Germany imposed on his awesome life, he knew it wasn't a good idea to bite the hand that fed him and provided him with a roof over his head and a really fast Internet connection.

He gave his crotch an evaluating look and tried to measure if he was already so hard that it would be a problem to go outside. The story hadn't yet got to the best parts and hadn't got him all hot and bothered, but he supposed it was better not to take any risks. Germany would flip his shit if he got banned from the last supermarket in the neighbourhood that still let him in.

“Yeah, okay! I'm going. Just give me a few minutes!” he said and started fumbling with his pants.

Fuck, this wasn't the way to do this, he thought as he was pumping himself. He wanted to find out what he was going to do to Romano in the story – for it was clear that the other person was still him. No wonder. He had been awesome in the first story, so why would Romano ever want to switch to someone else?

He felt himself tighten and reached under his bed for a box of tissues just as he came. He spent a moment catching his breath and threw the tissue aside, wondering if he should laminate the pages so that they'd be easier to wash if needed. Maybe going to the store wasn't such a bad idea after all.

“I'm off. Do you need something other than milk?” he asked once in the kitchen.

“No, that'll be all,” Germany said. He was in the process of peeling potatoes, and Prussia found himself thinking that he could have easily put that aside and gone to the store himself. But no, Germany had got into his head that Prussia had to do something every now and then to earn his keep.

He had to spend an eternity at the Penny Markt because there was only one cashier on shift and some little brat threw a tantrum about a Milka bar in the line. On the other hand, if there was something Prussia had learned in the course of his history, it was searching for the small, positive things in the shithole that his life sometimes resembled. When he finally emerged with the milk, some beer and a roll of plastic film, so much time had passed that he felt more than ready for round two with Romano's stories.

“Here's your milk,” he said and placed the carton and the beer bottles on the kitchen table, not even stopping on his way to the basement.

“You took a while. Dinner will be ready in some fifteen minutes.”

“Save me some for later. I've got stuff to do.”

“What – ”

But Prussia never heard the rest of Germany's question because the door to the basement had already closed and he was well on his way down the stairs. It wasn't the fact that Romano's stories were great porn that had him so excited. It was that he was in them, that Romano entertained himself with thoughts of _him._ It did wonders to soothe his ego that was sometimes dented with the thought that the modern world was in the process of forgetting all about him.

He picked up the page where he had stopped and resumed reading.

_“And then I'm going to surprise you.”_

_I glared at him, knowing that I couldn't get a straight answer out of him when he was in one of his playful moods. Asshole. I guess I could always try to have revenge on him if it turned out to be something unpleasant._

_“Fine. Just get fucking on with it,” I growled._

_“Okay, since you're asking so nicely.”_

_He returned behind me and gave my ass an enthusiastic pat before he turned his attention to my hole and began to insert the vibrator. He had prepared me well, so there was little discomfort as he pushed it inside. I let out the breath I had been holding when I felt the tip come to rest against my prostate._

_The rub he had given me earlier had left me half-hard. Whenever I shifted, the friction from the sheets made me tremble._

_“I'm going to flip you over,” he said._

_My heart skipped a beat. I preferred to lie on my stomach when he got experimental with me because I hated letting him see my face when I didn't know what was coming. Even though I had grown to trust him so much, part of me was always embarrassed to show him my pleasure. Or maybe it was fear because the more I loved him, the more vulnerable I became._

_I turned to look at him over my shoulder. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but something on his face made it easier to forget the nervous fluttering in my stomach._

_“Okay,” I said and turned over on my own without any guiding from him. I grunted at the sensation of the vibrator shifting inside me._

_“Thanks.”_

_He grabbed a hold of my right ankle and placed a kiss on my foot, right where my toes started. I swallowed as he started moving up my leg, covering my skin in kisses and nibbling at me with his teeth until he reached my knee._

_“Was this your awesome idea?” I asked. He was being gentler than usual, and while I didn't mind, I was growing impatient. I wished he'd at least turn on the vibrator to give me some friction._

_“No, but we're getting there.”_

_And with that, he let go of my leg and started unzipping his trousers. I prodded myself up on my elbows and watched him, wondering if he wanted me to suck him off. I always complained when he asked me to, but in truth I loved the chance to make him feel good. He was always doing to me what I liked the most, and I wanted to do the same to him._

_He seemed to guess what I was thinking because he gestured for me to lie back._

_“I've got this all covered,” he said as he finally freed his length and tossed his trousers and underwear aside. He grabbed a tube of lubricant from the table, uncapped it and smeared a generous amount on his hand. I watched him give himself a few strokes to get hard and spent a moment just admiring the fact that he was mine._

_And then he came to kneel on the bed between my legs. He grabbed my ankles and lifted them up on his shoulders so that my hips were raised off the bed. I felt the tip of his erection at my entrance and frowned in confusion._

_“Wait, the vibrator –”_

_“ – is going to stay inside,” he finished for me._

_“What?” I barked and struggled to sit up, but he tightened his hold on my legs and shushed me to calm down._

_“That's never going to fit!” I complained. The vibrator wasn't big, but there was no way I could take him along with it. I wasn't sure I even wanted to try. It would hurt too much._

_“It'll fit. I've prepped you well, and I'll go real slow. You know I'm the best. It can't go wrong.”_

_My hesitation must have been written all over my face because he gave my calf a reassuring nuzzle with his cheek._

_“You can always tell me to stop if it's too much,” he said._

_“Yeah, but...” I had heard that some people liked this and that it could feel really good. I had thought about it sometimes, but I had never assumed that I'd ever get to experience it. It made my stomach quiver with nervousness, but I couldn't help but be a little curious as well._

_“Okay,” I said in a shaky voice._

_He flashed me an enthusiastic grin. “Great!”_

_I felt the tip of his length at my hole and how the pressure increased as he began to push inside. He had to use his left hand to guide himself in alongside the vibrator, and I clenched my eyes shut at the feeling of being stretched so wide. It wasn't too bad at first, but soon I was hit with the sting, and my breath got caught in my throat. Oh, fuck, he was going to split me in two!_

_“H-hey,” I said and tried to keep my trembling body under control so that I wouldn't bolt to get away from him._

_He froze at once. “What? Do you want me to pull out?”_

_“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “Just... go slower.”_

_I dug my fingers into the mattress as he continued pushing into me. A groan escaped from my throat at the increasing burn in my passage. I knew I could have made him stop at any moment, but now that we had come this far, I wanted to see it through to the end._

_I was almost clawing at the sheets when he finally stopped._

_“All in,” he said, his voice heavy. “And it feels fucking great!”_

_“To you, maybe,” I grumbled and wiped at my eyes to get rid of the tears that were threatening to fall._

_“Aww, I'm sorry. Tell you what, you can decide what we do next time.”_

_“It's my turn anyway, bastard.”_

_I felt him shift, and a shiver of fear travelled down my spine. I was still hurting and stretched too wide. I didn't want to imagine what it would be like if he started now._

_“Wait!” I called out. “Not yet!”_

_“Don't worry. I'm not going to fuck you like this. Let's take it easy. I just wanted to see if this would work,” he said._

Prussia reached the end of the page and eagerly turned the next one, but to his great disappointment, the story didn't continue there. Maybe Romano had run out of inspiration, or maybe that had been all he had to say about that fantasy.

He was still so much into the story that he didn't feel like starting the next one. Instead, he decided to use his imagination, which was obviously better than Romano's, and come up with a suitable end for the tale. Maybe he'd even write it down once he had taken care of some more urgent needs.

***

Prussia spent the following week reading every page of Romano's writings. The stories varied greatly in terms of sex acts, but they had some things in common – almost all of them were about Romano being topped by him. There were a few attempts to switch the roles. Prussia was greatly interested in those as well, but the writing was clumsier and less detailed, showing that Romano spent far more time thinking of himself as a bottom.

He kept returning to the stories even after he had read all of them several times, which puzzled him somewhat. He had no shortage of porn on his computer, and he was more of a video kind of person anyway. Reading to get off wasn't his thing, no matter how flattering the stories were.

And yet he found himself poring over them every night, imagining the scenarios and almost hearing Romano's voice in his head. Something in them filled him with a strange sense of satisfaction that had nothing to do with sex.

Once he realised that the stories had become more than just porn for him, he began to read them more carefully, to look for the things that had caught his attention.

When he found them, he had no choice but to admit that he had been thinking with his dick the whole time. There was much more than sex in the stories. Most of them ended with some kind of cuddling scene, and not one failed to include Romano's musings about trust, safety and – God forbid! – love.

It was painfully obvious that it wasn't just kinky sex that filled Romano's mind.

It was a relationship.


	3. Chapter 3

So, Romano wanted a relationship.

Prussia was sitting on the edge of his bed as he turned this thought over in his head. He could understand people wanting to have sex with him. Heck, if he went poking around in other nations' houses, he'd no doubt find stories like this in everyone's bedside drawer. They all wanted a piece of him.

But it wasn't often that anyone equated him with relationships. That wasn't because he was bad at them or anything. He could have aced relationships if he had wanted to, but he didn't. He liked his freedom and not having any responsibilities. Commitment was nothing but trouble.

The last time Prussia had had sex more than once with the same person within a short amount of time was when he had met this guy in Baden-Baden. It had ended with the bastard making off with his wallet and leaving him to pay their tab at the bar. Prussia didn't know if that could be called a relationship, but he did so anyway so that he could remind himself why relationships sucked every time he was starting to feel lonely.

The relationship portrayed in Romano's stories was like straight out of a romance novel. They would lie in each others' arms after sex, he would give Romano's cheek a poke with his nose, or Romano would curl up against him after complaining that he had made him sore again. 

No matter what way Prussia looked at it, that was fucking cute.

And that was why guilt had begun to gnaw at his insides as he kept reading the stories. Looking at someone else's porn was one thing. Reading their secret thoughts and dreams about relationships was another. It was like stealing their diary. If someone did that to him, he'd shove their head under a lawnmower, so he knew it was a serious matter.

Another thought that kept him occupied was the question of why it was always him in Romano's fantasies. When he had thought it was just sex, it had made sense. But why would Romano fantasize about being together with him when he could have Spain any day?

Sure, Spain wasn't awesome like him, but he was a nice guy and perfect boyfriend material for someone who wanted to have his hair stroked when they were lying in bed. Plus, Romano was close to him and knew him so much better than him.

Or maybe that was exactly it. Fantasies were supposed to be exciting. Of course Romano didn't fantasize about Spain. Hell, maybe he was doing him in real life. No adventure there. He could have his nice relationship with Spain _and_ entertain himself with thoughts of the awesome Prussia to spice things up.

It was a safe fantasy because there was no chance of it ever coming true.

He let out a dry chuckle and placed the pages into his desk drawer. They had been fun, but now that he knew what was really going on in them, it made him uncomfortable to keep reading them. He'd throw them away later when the garbage car came to collect their paper.

So, what did his awesome life have in store for him today? Let's see, he was scheduled to be online in three hours and go kick some ass with the guys in his guild. Germany had asked him to clean the bathroom that day, but he hadn't yet decided if he was going to do it or wait until his brother grew tired of nagging at him and did it himself.

If he didn't do it, he supposed all that was left was sitting here in the basement and watching a movie or writing something in his blog. But even that hadn't been interesting as of late. He had once again failed in his attempt to engage Austria in a flame war. The fop probably didn't know how to send a message. What a loser.

Fuck, he was actually considering the bathroom here, wasn't he?

“Hey, West, where are our cleaning supplies?” he asked as he entered the kitchen and saw Germany in the process of pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“In the cupboard in the utility room. That's where they've always been.”

“I know, just making sure.”

Germany leaned back against the kitchen counter and closed his eyes as he took a sip of his coffee. His hand moved up to rub his temples, and Prussia suddenly realised how tired his brother looked like.

“Our bathroom is going to be the cleanest in the world when I'm done with it!” he announced. Maybe he'd vacuum the living room, too, so that Germany wouldn't have to bother.

And so he got to work. He couldn't say he enjoyed cleaning, and it certainly wasn't an obsession for him like it was for Germany, but he had been a soldier for so many years that some appreciation for order had stuck with him. Plus, it was clear that his kid brother was exhausted, so it was his time to step in and take some of his responsibilities off his back, like the best big brother in the world was supposed to.

He got the bathroom squeaky clean in an hour after which he spent some time just chilling on the couch and drinking beer (he could vacuum some other day) until he returned to the basement and logged in to see if anyone else was early.

It was several hours later that his stomach announced that now was the time for some potatoes and sausage. He glanced at the clock and noted that usually Germany would have called him to dinner at least three times by now. Maybe he had been so into the game that he hadn't heard him.

But when he entered the kitchen, he found all the lights turned off and nothing on the stove. Sometimes Germany ate without him and left him a plate in the fridge, but when he took a look, there was nothing.

“Hey, West! Where's dinner?” he called out and poked his head out of the kitchen. When there was no reply, he walked up the stairs to Germany's study and opened the door.

Germany lay sprawled against his desk, resting his head on his arms as he slept. Even though there was a laptop on the desk and Germany was very tall and very muscular, Prussia couldn't help but think back to days when he'd find him asleep like this, his fingers covered in ink because he took his homework too seriously for his own good.

“Kids never learn,” he said with a shake of his head and moved to shake Germany's shoulder. “You're going to have a killer backache if you sleep like that.”

Germany stirred and turned to look at him in confusion, blinking against the bright that resulted from his movements turning off the laptop's screensaver.

“What?” he asked and brought a hand to cover his eyes.

“You fell asleep on your work. If you're that tired, you should forget about it and go to bed.”

“You know I can't. I'm behind schedule because of the weekend we spent in Italy. I have to get all of this done before the conference in Switzerland on Thursday.”

“It's just paperwork.”

“It's important,” Germany said in a tone that invited no counter arguments.

“Then skip Switzerland. It's not an important meeting anyway, and you don't even have to present anything there.”

“I can't do that either. I have to be a good example to others in Europe, especially at times like this.”

Prussia resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “There's too much paperwork in the world. I miss the days when we wielded swords and not diplomacy.”

Then again, if the world was still like that, then he'd _really_ have a reason to be jealous of his brother, so maybe it was just as well.

“Anyway, at this rate you're just going to have to pick one. Otherwise you'll do a shitty job at both,” he said. He moved closer to take a look at the file that was open on the laptop. “Wow, this looks like a piece of cake. I could so do this.”

“Thank you, but I'll manage.”

“Then I should go and fill in for you in Switzerland.”

There was the briefest moment of silence before Germany spoke. “No, that won't be necessary.”

“Ha, you hesitated! For a second, you were considering it!” Prussia said with a laugh. And then he considered it as well, for real this time, and liked what his imagination was showing him. It was such a long time since he had last worn a suit that it would knock everyone off their feet when they saw how hot he was in one. And he'd sit at the table, all important and taking notes and shit.

“You know what, West?” he said. “I'm going.”

“No, it's –”

“A totally awesome idea! I know! I'll be eating fondue when you're stuck here writing, but them's the breaks. You picked your share and can't change it now.”

“Prussia, please –”

“And then I'm going to surprise everyone with how good I still am at this even though it's been over twenty years since I was in charge of a country. Their jaws will hit the floor!” Damn, why hadn't he thought of this before? It was fantastic! “Anyway, what were you trying to say?”

“That I don't think this is a very...” But then Germany grew quiet and just stared at him.

“What?”

Germany let out a long-suffering sigh and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I'll regret this later, but fine. You can go if you really want to.”

“Awesome! You know, we should have done this a long time ago. How come we never set up anything like Italy and Romano?”

Germany looked away in discomfort. “Well...”

“Haha, just kidding. Never mind,” Prussia said and reached out to mess up Germany's hair. He knew Germany had done his best to make it fair when their halves of the country had been reunited, but it hadn't really worked out like they had planned. It wasn't his fault; these things just developed independent of what they wanted.

“Stop that,” Germany said and swatted his hand away. “If you're actually going to represent this country, you have to learn to behave. I'm going to write you a memo of everything you need to keep in mind.”

“Oh, come on. I was going to meetings hundreds of years before you even existed,” Prussia said, but he didn't mind. As long as he got to go, he'd memorize a whole book of rules if that was that Germany wanted.

***

And that was how Prussia ended up in Bern where the meeting was being held. They had picked Switzerland to host it because he had money and was neutral as he wasn't part of the Euro Zone. The two reasons were of course related, but nobody said that out loud.

Prussia gazed proudly at the conference building, his head full of glorious images of how he'd take the meeting by a storm. Sure, he wasn't scheduled to speak because this meeting was only a brief update on what was going on in each country and it wasn't until next week that Germany would be presenting his new plans to everyone. But that didn't mean he couldn't make one hell of an impression.

“Hey, France!” he called out when he spotted his friend about to enter the building.

France turned around and lifted his brows in surprise. “Prussia? What are you doing here? If you want to crash the meeting, I'm afraid I can't –”

“No, no, nothing like that!” Prussia pointed at the badge on his jacket that declared him as one of the participants. “See here? Today I'm Germany!”

France walked over to him and stared at the badge with a frown, as if expecting it to be fake. Then he lifted his eyes up to Prussia and eyed him in suspicion. 

“What did you do to Germany?” he asked.

“Wow, you sure have a lot of faith in me. West is fine. He's just too busy to come here today because he spent all of last weekend hanging out with Italy, so he's behind on his work. And that's why he sent the best man to fill in for him!”

France dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out the program for the day. “Oh, thank God,” he murmured. “There's no presentation from Germany today.”

“And what's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. It's just that you've always been better at war than diplomacy. Everyone is already on edge because of the problems with the Euro, so it's better if the meeting goes without any... incidents,” France replied.

Prussia spent a split second deciding if he was supposed to be insulted or flattered by the comment, but he swiftly settled for the latter.

“Yeah, I'm pretty damn awesome at war, aren't I?” he asked with a laugh.

They entered the building together and discovered that their seats were right next to each other. According to France, it was common since he and Germany had so much influence in the European Union. Prussia was going to ask about the logic behind Estonia being seated by his other side, then, but that was when the doors burst open and they both turned to look.

“We're not late!” Italy announced as he entered the room, dragging Romano behind him. “Romano, look! We aren't even the last to arrive! Germany is going to be so proud of me today!”

Romano wrenched his wrist free of his brother's hold and leaned against his knees. “Fuck you,” he said between his panting. “There was no need to cut that breakfast short!”

“Italy, I'm afraid you're in for a disappointment today. Germany isn't coming,” France said with a sad smile.

“Oh, thank God!” Romano said.

“What? Why not? Is he sick?” Italy asked.

“Nope, he's just busy. But never fear, Ita-cakes! I'm here to fill in for him!” Prussia announced. It occurred to him only now that this was the first time in probably years that he got to be around Italy without Germany breathing down his neck. Maybe he'd manage to steal a smile or a hug from the cute nation.

“That's too bad. I was looking forward to having lunch with him today,” Italy said. “But it's really nice that you didn't have to stay home and do nothing like usual!”

Prussia once again decided to ignore the so not awesome comments people were making about him and threw his arm over Italy's shoulders, pulling him close.

“West is such a bore. You can have a much better lunch with me!” he declared.

“Well...”

“Yeah, like hell he will! Hands of my brother, you disgusting sack of potato germs!”

Prussia turned to look at Romano, and in his surprise he did ease his hold of Italy who used the chance to wriggle free. For a moment, he had entirely forgotten that Romano even existed, but now he found himself wondering why he had gone for the younger half of the country when the older was right there.

And Romano was hotter than Italy, he realised with sudden insight. Italy was cute, but when Romano was glaring at him with that kind of fury in his eyes, it sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. How come he had never noticed that before?

I need to get those stories out of my head, he thought. They were making him come up with all sorts of ideas that would no doubt end in pain or embarrassment or both.

Thankfully, the last nations finally arrived and Switzerland opened the meeting, giving Prussia something to distract himself with. Germany had told him to take detailed notes of everyone's presentation, so for a moment he was able to busy himself with listening to Portugal's plans of improving his economy.

However, it didn't take long before his mind started to drift. Hell, he had forgotten how boring it was in these meetings, especially now that he couldn't threaten anyone with war to spice things up. He lifted his eyes from his notepad and took a look at the others around the table.

Hey, did Estonia have a tablet for taking notes? Not fair! Why was he stuck with ancient pen and paper? He would seriously have to talk to Germany about that.

He moved his gaze from nation to nation and smirked at Austria – hah, the loser was probably so pissed off that Prussia was in a meeting again because it proved he wasn't out of the picture – before he settled on Romano who was on the other side of the table.

Based on the abuse the ballpoint pen in his fingers was getting, Romano was just as bored as he was. Prussia wondered what he was thinking right now and if the occasional scribblings he did in his notebook were related to the topic or if he was writing more porn. Would he have the guts to do that in a meeting where anyone could take a peek over his shoulder and see what he was doing?

Normally, he would have said no, but it wasn't that long ago that he could have never imagined Romano as someone who wrote porn in the first place. So, who knew? Maybe there were more juicy scenes being written down right in front of him.

He didn't realise he had been staring until Romano suddenly turned his eyes from his notebook and gave him such a furious glare that Prussia was momentarily taken by surprise. Hell, what was his problem? He hadn't done anything to him.

He was Prussia, so if Romano thought he could stare him down and make him look away first, he was wrong. Nobody pushed him around. So, he smiled just wide enough to let Romano know that he had been challenged and began to wait for his inevitable victory.

Strangely enough, Romano didn't give up right away. His face quickly grew such a shade of red that Prussia began to fear for his blood pressure. His eyes were aflame, and Prussia was sure he would soon explode with the insults that he was keeping inside him.

I wonder if that's the look he'd give me if I tied him down and made him beg for it, he thought.

Once he let that image flash before his eyes, there was no holding back. He couldn't turn his eyes away from Romano and admit defeat, but the longer he had to look at the angry line of his mouth, the blotches on his cheeks and the murderous frown, the more vividly he could recall all of the dirty scenes that Romano had written.

His favourites were probably the ones in which he had Romano trembling with need in his hands and how he still refused to give in and moan for it. Something about the idea of such a fiery person submitting to him and wanting him was so exciting, especially when it was someone like Romano who never failed to use a chance to say how much he hated him.

Those fingers that were clutching the pen would no doubt feel fantastic on his length. Romano probably preferred it swift and rough when he was giving someone a handjob. Maybe all the farm work he liked to do had left his hands hard and callused so that the friction would be especially –

Oh, shit, Prussia thought as he felt a warm shiver travel down his body. He couldn't believe that he was getting hard just from thinking about these things. Not cool. So. Not. Cool. 

He gritted his teeth and tried to think of anything else, but he was having such trouble concentrating that it was no use. His face was no doubt developing a nice blush, which sucked because everyone always noticed it on his usually pale skin.

There was a poke on his shoulder, and he nearly jumped out of his seat.

“Is everything alright?” France whispered in a curious tone.

“I'm fine,” Prussia growled and turned to glare at him, realising too late that he had broken his eye contact with Romano. When he looked his way again, he saw that he had resumed staring at his notebook but that he was now pursing his lips in the most infuriating and self-satisfied way.

Fuck, he thinks he's so much better than me, Prussia thought. No way in hell, even if those lips would probably feel really good around his – 

“Are you sure?” France asked. “You're looking a little bothered. Is it difficult for you to concentrate, this being your first meeting in years?”

Oh, that fucking smile on France's face. If not for the fact that he would have had to get up to do so, Prussia would have punched him in the face right now. Instead, he settled with glaring at him with eyes that promised death, placed his notebook strategically on his lap and tuned in to hear the conclusion of Portugal's presentation.

When it was time for a break, he pretended that he was writing down a few last notes so that the others had the time to leave. Only then did he get up and make a dash for the restroom, cursing under his breath all the way there. The hell was wrong with him, getting all stupidly hot and needy like this? He was too awesome to be this weak.

He locked himself into a booth and figured he'd get rid of his problem fast so that he'd still have time to grab a snack before the meeting continued. He'd also have to find someone who had been listening during his glaring contest with Romano so that he could fill in the blanks in his notes.

Once done, he was about to unlock the door and get out, but it was exactly then that he heard someone enter the restroom. Out of instinct, he remained where he was. If it was France, he didn't feel like talking to him right now.

However, the angry voice that suddenly spoke definitely didn't belong to France.

“The hell is your problem anyway?” Romano snarled. “It's bad enough that you let one of those bastards have his hands all over you, but the other one, too? Why don't you just push him away when he starts bothering you? Don't tell me that you actually like it when he does that!”

There was a frightened yelp from Italy before he spoke. “No, no, of course not! I mean, I like Prussia, but not the way I like Germany!”

Well, that was no surprise, Prussia thought. He had known that all along, even if there had been a time when he hadn't wanted to admit it.

“Then why don't you just kick his ass?”

“Because Prussia is so nice and I don't want to hurt his feelings!”

“Yeah, like he has any. He just wants to fuck you and then toss you aside when he's done.”

“Oh, no, I'm sure Prussia isn't like that!”

Prussia waited long after the Italy brothers had left before he came out of the booth. He knew he shouldn't have let it get to him, but he couldn't help but wonder why someone who had such a low opinion of him spent so much time writing down erotic stories about him.

He'd probably never know, he mused as he was washing his hands before heading out to see if he could still get something to eat.


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the meeting went without any unusual incidents, meaning that a fight broke out between France and England, and once England made the mistake of calling everyone who had the Euro as their currency small-minded barmpots, everybody else got involved. Prussia figured that as Germany's fill-in, it might have been his responsibility to stand up and put an end to it, but it was far too amusing to spit into paper balls and throw them at Austria – never mind the fact that they were on the same side in the currency war.

Finally, Switzerland had enough and fired a gun to get everyone's attention. Everyone froze in the middle of what they were doing and turned to look at him.

“Are those allowed indoors?” France asked sceptically.

“I'm usually a responsible gun owner,” Switzerland announced. “But if you idiots don't start solving your problems soon, I will be shooting at something other than the ceiling.”

“Like he really wants us to solve anything. He's all too happy to accept our panicked citizens' money into his banks,” Estonia muttered.

Despite Switzerland's encouragement, nothing was accomplished that day. Prussia ignored the comments about how it would have gone better if Germany had been there to keep order and instead focused on what had always been his favourite part about politics, other than fighting – post-meeting drinking.

There was a nice, spacey bar near their hotel where most of them gathered that evening to either continue the bickering from earlier or to relax and forget about it. That was what Prussia had been looking forward to the most since something interesting always happened when nations assembled in one place and when alcohol was available. Of course, he usually didn't remember much of it afterwards, but he was sure it was still fun.

“I should come to these things more often,” he said after taking a gulp of his first beer.

“You're a lot nicer than Germany. He's really been nagging at me lately,” Spain commented by his side.

“His economy is nowhere near as perfect as he'd like us to believe,” France added. “But he's always been like that, an utter push-over.”

Prussia lifted his beer to his lips and said nothing. Sure, his friends were right, but it was his kid brother they were badmouthing here. Plus, if he was being perfectly honest, a lot of the current economical problems in Germany came from what had once been his side of the country.

“Fuck, can't you two just stop thinking about work for a while? Am I the only nation in Europe who still knows how to relax?” he asked.

“You're right. Tonight we aren't talking about money or defaulting. Let's drink!” Spain said eagerly.

And so they drank, or at least Prussia and Spain did. France claimed he wanted to remain more or less sober because he had plans to continue his fight with England, except in more comfortable circumstances.

Prussia couldn't help but laugh at that. “Like he's even going to let you into his bed!”

“You never know without trying.”

“That's what you've been saying for, what, the past one thousand years?”

Nevertheless, France was the first of them to excuse himself. Prussia and Spain wished him luck like good buddies were meant to and resumed their happy drinking. It didn't last long, however, because Spain's phone started playing the latest Pablo Alborán song.

“Yeah?” he asked as he lifted the phone to his ear. “I'm at the bar. What? Yeah, that sounds great. I'll be right there.”

“Who was that?” Prussia asked in curiosity.

Spain took one last gulp of his wine. “I've got to go. I'll see you later, okay?”

“Sure.”

It sounded like Spain was getting some tonight. Prussia was actually mildly surprised by that because, contrary to the rumours, post-meeting drinking nights weren't actually spent releasing sexual tension, confessing one's feelings to anyone or really even getting a pity fuck. They just drank, complained and did stupid things. 

And from the sound of it, it was already starting. It seemed Finland had drunk enough to get loud and was in the process of cursing his government for wanting to save money by reducing the budget of the police force. Hungary was quick to chime in and say how unfairly the European Union was treating her, and she didn't even use the Euro.

Prussia spent a moment listening to the others, but it wasn't a lot of fun when he was sitting alone at the bar counter and when he didn't have such stories to share. Man, right now he really wished he had a failing economy or a public school system that was going down the drain. Even a tiny scandal with the heads of a large corporation giving each other illegal bonuses would have been something. Anything to stop him from feeling like a complete outsider.

He was in the process of thinking that France had better get rejected soon and drag his ass back to the bar when he noticed that someone had come to the counter to order. At first he didn't think much of it, but then he realised that it wasn't just anyone.

It was Romano.

“What are you doing here?” Prussia asked.

Romano shot him an angry glare. “Getting a drink. What does it look like, idiot?”

“But shouldn't you be with Spain?” Really, who the hell had called Spain if it hadn't been Romano? And did Romano know that Spain was with someone else right now? Was that why he had been so angry the whole day?

“I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't even know where he is,” Romano said. He got his wine and was about to leave, but Prussia decided that he wasn't going to let him out of his sight that soon. He had to talk to him more, even if nothing came out of it.

“Hey, not so fast. Come back here.”

“What the hell do you want?”

“Nothing, let's just chat like two nations who met at a bar. But no work stuff because I'm sick of that.”

Romano snorted. “Yeah, right. I have to tolerate you when you're staying at Veneziano's house, but there's no way I'm hanging out with you voluntarily. Go fuck yourself.”

Okay, this was starting to get on his nerves. Just who did Romano think he was? 

“What the hell did I ever do to you? You treat me like shit all the time, even when I'm trying to be nice!”

“You're a disgusting bastard like your brother and you can't keep your hands off _my_ brother, so not only do you have terrible taste but you can't take a fucking hint when it's obvious he doesn't like it! And you like potatoes, so the air around you is contaminated because you eat them and then the potato germs crawl out of your skin pores and I have to breathe them!”

Maybe he had drunk more than he thought because right now he couldn't make any sense of the words that had just left Romano's mouth. At least not the second part, so he decided to focus on the first because that at least sounded like it was somewhat based on reality.

“But I'm not after Italy!” he blurted out.

“What?”

“What kind of brother would I be if I was chasing West's booty?”

Romano's only reaction was rolling his eyes and making a face.

“I mean, I don't even want him,” Prussia continued.

“Ha, you're just saying that so that you won't have to admit that you can't have him.”

“I said I don't want him! Fuck, what's your problem? Your brother's real cute, but he's not my style. I like people with a little more fire in them.”

Like you, Prussia thought. Wouldn't it be awesome if he just grabbed Romano, slammed him against the bar counter and kissed him? Yeah, he'd probably fight back at first, or maybe bite him, but then he'd grab his hair or grind against him or do something else to show that it wasn't unwanted. He would plant kisses down Romano's neck as far as he his clothes let him and nibble at his skin and trace his jawline with his tongue.

“Y-yeah, right!” Romano's face was quickly developing a new, interesting shade of red that Prussia didn't think he had seen before. “You'd do anyone who's willing! Go to hell!”

And with that, he downed his wine with one long gulp, slammed the glass on the counter and marched away, leaving Prussia feeling confused and more than a little disappointed.

For some reason or another, Prussia didn't feel like staying at the bar for much longer. He liked drinking alone – really, he did – but maybe even the best of the best got tired after the first day of actual work in some two decades. He might just as well return to the hotel and get some sleep so that he'd make it through the following morning's conference.

To his surprise, he wasn't the only one. As he was about to enter the building, he saw two figures approaching. It was Spain and Belgium, all smiles and laughter. He had his hand on her waist, and it was impossible to miss the way she was leaning against him.

Prussia felt a grin tugging at his lips. He had been right. Spain _was_ getting some tonight. Just not with the person he had expected.

“Hey there, lovebirds,” he said and held the door open for them.

“You're back early,” Spain remarked.

“Yeah, it was so boring that I'm not going to waste my time there any longer.”

“That's too bad.”

Prussia was expecting Spain and Belgium to make their way to either one's room and make the best of the night, but instead Belgium gave Spain a peck on the lips and just smiled at him.

“Thanks, I had fun,” she said before waving at him and darting off to the elevator to make it to her room.

“If that was my fault, sorry,” Prussa said.

“What?”

“That she left.”

“Oh, no, why would that be your fault? We just had a nice walk, and I guess she's a little tired and wants to go to bed.”

Prussia spent a moment examining the smile on Spain's face and trying to decide if he was being sarcastic, but no. He really was that nice and clueless, bless him.

“I bet she would like it if you dropped by her room and wished her goodnight,” he said.

“Yeah, maybe I will.”

“You know...” Prussia started, not sure if he wanted to start with this topic, but he figured he wouldn't get a better chance to talk about it, and it was just _bugging_ him. “I kind of figured you'd go after Romano, not Belgium.”

“Romano? Why?” Spain asked. 

Prussia snorted and made a vague gesture with his hand. “Come on! You're always fawning over him and patting his head and stuff. You're practically a couple. Everyone can see that.”

“But we aren't a couple,” Spain said with a puzzled frown. “Never have been. Romano is like a brother to me. Didn't you know?”

To be honest, Prussia often had trouble deciphering Spain since at one moment he was the calmest and nicest person in the world, and then he could suddenly turn into a fierce fighter in the blink of an eye. As for Romano, fat chance. He was Ancient Greek to him. He figured it was no surprise he had completely misread their relationship.

“Hey, of course I knew that! But are your sure that Romano knows? He's been so pissy the whole time. Maybe he's jealous.”

Spain crossed his hands behind his head and let out a happy hum. “If he was jealous, he would have never told me to ask Belgium out. You probably just did something to annoy him.”

“Yeah, like that's difficult,” Prussia said with a roll of his eyes. For once he had tried being nice to the little twit, and he'd got nothing but verbal abuse in return. Why did he even bother? Anyone in the world would be happy to jump into bed with him, so it wasn't like he was desperate.

“It takes time for him to open up to people, but don't give up. I think you two could get along real well.”

Prussia only reply was a chortle. Yeah, right. Romano was a nutcase. First he wrote great porn about them having a fantastic relationship and then he wouldn't even talk to him like a decent human being in real life. The idiot couldn't decide what he wanted. But Prussia wasn't bitter about that. He just... Fuck, he was just intrigued and would have liked to see if it could work.

“Anyway, I guess I'll go and see if Belgium is still up. See you tomorrow!” Spain said.

“Yeah, sure.”

Prussia watched Spain enter the elevator. He was left alone in the lobby, so he figured he might just as well go up to his room and get to bed. Everyone else was either at the bar or having some more private fun, and he didn't want any of them to surprise him and see that he wasn't with anyone.

He tossed the jacket of his suit on the armchair by his bed and tore off his tie, throwing it away. One of Germany's notes for him had said that he should fold his clothes carefully so that he would find them the following morning and not be late to the meeting, but Prussia couldn't bring himself to give a damn.

He collapsed on his bed without taking off the rest of his clothes and rubbed his face. The day hadn't really matched his expectations. It sucked that he had nothing better to do than lie alone in his hotel room. He should have been the centre of the party.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he rolled over and rested his chin on his pillow. He hated feeling sorry for himself. He was usually able to distract himself with video games, movies or his blog, but there was nothing fun to do at a hotel. Germany had strictly told him not to watch pay TV in his room, and the free channels always sucked.

He couldn't help it; his bored mind began to drift towards the stories that were still hidden in his drawer back home. But it wasn't the sex that he found himself thinking about. He imagined the little details Romano had written down – the caresses, the little kisses, the way he would hold him and press his nose against his neck when they were done.

Right now, that kind of felt more awesome than the sex. Why was it that Romano imagined such things but didn't want to even let him close in real life? Now granted, Prussia wasn't in love with him, so this issue wouldn't mean the end of his life, but it puzzled him. If Romano wanted him (and of course he did), then why didn't he take a chance and ask him out or something?

At first he had thought it was because he was already content with his life and just wrote porn to get some extra excitement, but if he wasn't with Spain, he probably wasn't with anyone. Italy would have blabbered about it if Romano was seeing someone.

Maybe he had been right about that Romano was writing those stories because they were safe fantasies. Not because he had something else that made him happy but because he didn't want to reveal what was on his mind and risk rejection?

Prussia sat up with a sudden burst of determination. That had to be it. Romano had no doubt wanted to ask him out countless times, but he had always chickened because he felt so inadequate compared to him. Because hey, anyone would be nervous to ask out the most awesome nation in the world! Romano probably thought he wasn't good enough for him, that he would never even look his way because he could have anyone he wanted.

The obvious solution to this problem was to make the first move and ask Romano out! He'd scream yes and fall to his knees in gratitude. And then they would get to try out all those cool things he had written about.

Prussia rolled over and grabbed his suitcase from under the bed where he had kicked it after the meeting. He took out his notepad and began to write down his strategy to win Romano over. He had the gut instinct that Romano didn't like intimacy in public places, so asking right in the middle of the following day's meeting was probably a bad idea. So, he'd ask later. Maybe he'd wait until he could visit him in Italy.

He chewed on the pen in thought. Flowers were super sissy, so he wasn't going to bring those. Maybe food. Italy was always happy when he was eating, so Romano was probably the same. Pizza? He should also come up with some really good opening lines to charm Romano off his feet.

Maybe he should tell him that he knew about the stories and that they were incredibly hot. Then Romano would know right away that they wanted the same things and they could move on right to the next stage.

He grinned maniacally as he scribbled down a few more lines. Yeah, this was going to be perfect!


	5. Chapter 5

Prussia decided to be stealthy, so he made no move to approach Romano during the second and last day of the meeting. He didn't talk to him or even look at him, no matter how tempting it was to stare at him over the conference table and just take in how hot he was when he stopped scowling at someone in particular and had only a slight, habitual frown on his face.

This way he won't get suspicious and put up his defences, he thought as he kept his eyes glued to Finland who was giving a speech. Since Romano was always in a pissy mood when he was around, he'd give him plenty of time with absolutely no contact with him so that he'd calm down and be more receptive once he made his move. He wouldn't even say hello to him if they passed each other in the hallway.

And so he returned home without exchanging another word with him. Germany was suitably impressed by his notes and the fact that nobody had called to complain about him, so Prussia liked to think that his chances of getting to attend another meeting were pretty good. Ha, he was worming his way back into politics without anyone noticing!

But he had had enough of that for now, so he retreated into his den in the basement and started polishing his plans of getting Romano to go out with him. The first obstacle on his list was already cleared. Since Spain wasn't interested in Romano, Prussia didn't have to stay put like a good buddy.

The second and only obstacle was getting Romano to say yes. He had developed his strategy pretty far. First he'd either steal Germany's secret credit card (the one he used for buying porn) or find some other way to get enough money for plane ticket out of him. Then he'd have to make sure Romano was alone at his place in Rome. Once he had convinced him to let him in, he'd tell him about the stories and how great they were.

Prussia knew that this was the riskiest part of his plan. Romano probably wouldn't be happy to hear that he'd been snooping around in his room in Venice. He'd have to use all of his charms and sexy looks to win him over before he kicked him out and filed for a restraining order.

“He'll be angry at first, but he'll turn into wax in my hands in no time,” he said as he leaned back on his chair. It wouldn't take long before they'd get to try out all the things that Romano had written about.

And not just that. He'd make it better than fantasy. Once he was done, Romano would say that he had never imagined sex could be so good.

He was in an excellent mood later that evening when he was having dinner with Germany. It was a while since the last time he had had such a concrete goal in his life rather than just drifting from one day to another playing video games and having a great time.

“What are you planning?” Germany asked, and Prussia supposed the grin on his face was a pretty good give-away that he was up to something.

He figured it wouldn't be a good idea to let Germany know about his scheme. He'd first try to talk him out of it and then call the airport that he shouldn't be let to Italy. All because he had no appreciation for fun and always worried about everything. But once he'd won Romano over, he'd brag all he could. He was willing to bet that Italy had never let Germany do the kinds of things to him that he and Romano would soon do.

“Nothing. There's this cool new video game coming out next week,” he said and shoved a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

“You already have so many. Why do you need to buy more?”

“For the same reason people buy new books when they've read the old ones.”

“I see,” Germany said, but Prussia could tell that he didn't.

“Italy was pretty disappointed that you didn't show up to the meeting,” he said.

“He should know by now that responsibilities are more important than what we personally want.”

“Sheesh, West. Any normal guy would be tickled pink when someone as cute as Italy misses him, but you just can't get your head out of work. No wonder everyone said I should always come to the meetings instead of you,” Prussia said and rolled his eyes.

Germany shot him a dirty look. “They didn't say that.”

“Did too!” Well, at least Spain had. And he could probably count France's vote in, too. Those two were such big countries that their opinion counted heavily, so practically he had a huge portion of Europe on his side.

“Anyway,” he continued, “You should make it up to Italy that you couldn't be there. Invite him over for the weekend. I promise I'll get out of the house. I'll visit Spain or something.”

“And then I would be behind on my work again, and you would get to go to another meeting,” Germany pointed out.

“That's not my point! I just want you and Italy's relationship to work, okay? If you keep ignoring him, who knows when he'll grow tired of you and move on to the next hunk who comes his way? I think Denmark was totally checking him out,” Prussia said.

Germany kept his eyes on his mashed potatoes and moved them around his plate. “We don't need to have this conversation,” he finally said.

“Great, so that means Italy is coming!”

“I didn't say –”

“If you don't invite him, I will. Either way, you're going to have an awesome weekend with him. Put some money on my account so that I can go to Spain.”

Germany said nothing, but Prussia could tell that he would give in. Great, two birds with one stone. He could soon afford a plane ticket to Rome, and it was a given Romano would be alone in his house. This was like watching a perfect battle strategy bear fruit. Now it was just a matter of letting his natural charms and hotness do their work.

However, right the following day, he realised that there might be another obstacle in the way of his hot Italian holiday. He didn't have the things that he needed for fulfilling Romano's fantasies. If he was going to do even a portion of the stuff in his stories, he would have to get some nice scented lube, rope that was firm but didn't cut into the skin, vibrators of different sizes, maybe handcuffs and then those suction thingies you put on nipples. He had always considered himself open-minded about sex, but the fact was that he didn't have most of those things.

It was _not_ because his sex life sucked. There was nothing wrong with a guy who was content with a good porn flick, some lube and his hand.

Nevertheless, he figured he had no choice but to see what was left of his monthly allowance and go to a sex store. Germany probably had everything he needed, but first of all, he would need them with Italy, and secondly, Prussia had the feeling that Romano wouldn't want to use Germany's sex toys.

That was why he soon found himself browsing the selection of a small sex shop, feeling excited and a little overwhelmed at the same time. There were so many things that he had never seen before and that he didn't even know how to use. He wondered if Romano did. The little bastard had to know something about these things since he had managed to write about all of them.

He grabbed a package that contained a purple dildo with bumps. Just looking at it made him imagine Romano's face as he pushed it in. He couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to be filled by one of those things.

After spending nearly three quarters of an hour just looking at everything, he decided that the best course of action was buying everything that looked interesting. If it was something that he didn't know how to use, well, it was just a great reason to get it and try it out. He could always find instructions online.

“Fun times ahead?” the clerk asked once he took his pile of stuff to the counter.

“Yeah, it's all for me and my boyfriend,” Prussia said, but then he froze in the middle of taking two fifty Euro notes from his wallet.

He hadn't meant to call Romano his boyfriend. That was going a bit too far right now, but it had a nice ring to it. He wasn't a fan of relationships, but the one that had been portrayed in Romano's stories sounded awesome, so he was more than willing to give it a try if that was what Romano wanted.

“Well, enjoy yourselves.”

“Oh, you bet!”

In fact, the more he thought about it as he was walking down the street with his purchases, the more he liked it. If Romano was his boyfriend, he could come to meetings with Germany to see him and then have lunch together with him every time. And if he was his boyfriend, he would be allowed to do all kinds of cute things with him.

“My boyfriend,” he mused and tasted the words in his mouth. It would take some getting used to since his awesomeness wasn't meant to be tied down and restrained, but the happy flutter in his stomach told him that he could learn to deal with it.

Of course, there was the problem that he didn't know Romano all that well. They had hung out a few times, either at Spain's place or when Prussia and Germany went to visit Italy. They got along pretty well when Prussia wasn't talking to him and when Romano was eating because then he couldn't cuss him out. Other than that, Romano was always either avoiding him or telling him how much he hated him.

He must be shy, Prussia mused. The poor thing was too nervous to be honest about his feelings. But once he had been reassured that it was natural and okay to feel that way about the great Prussia, he could end that masquerade and shower him with the adoration that he deserved.

Yeah, getting a boyfriend sounded amazing. How come he hadn't thought of this before?

***

Two weeks later, Prussia was walking down a street in Rome and basking in the bright sunlight and his self-confidence. Now he was only moments away from realising all the dreams that had been on his mind. It couldn't get any better.

All of the toys were safely in a box that he had decorated to make it pretty. He had also brought his copies of Romano's stories, just in case they needed some inspiration and Romano hadn't brought the notebook from Venice to Rome.

He could barely keep his grin in check once he was finally standing outside Romano's door. He rang the doorbell and waited.

“Surprise!” he yelled as soon as the door opened, but it had been pulled shut again even before the last syllable had left his mouth.

“When I open this door again, it had better turn out that you were just a figment of my imagination, bastard!”

Here was the perfect opening to get things rolling!

“Sure, I can do that,” Prussia said. “Do you want it to be the time when I tied you down to my bed and stroked you the whole night without letting you climax, or the time when we tried out double penetration for the first time?”

There was only silence on the other side of the door.

“Hello?” Prussia asked and began abusing the doorbell. 

“What... what the hell are you talking about?”

“The stories you wrote! The ones about us! Come on, let me in!”

He frowned when he could hear running steps from the other side. Where was Romano going? Even if he didn't want to let him in, surely he would say it and not run away? Or maybe his approach had been a little too direct and he had sent him fleeing.

Just as Prussia was beginning to wonder if he should try to climb in through the window, the sound of the steps returned and the door was pushed open. It was then that he realised where had Romano had gone.

Romano was standing at the door, holding an old gun that looked like it was from the first World War. His face was a rapidly deepening shade of red, but the usual anger was absent from his eyes. If anything, Prussia would have described him as scared.

“Get in,” Romano growled, and his tone didn't make Prussia think that he was in for a session of gunplay.

He figured it was for the best to obey for now and was soon sitting on Romano's couch with the gun still being pointed straight between his eyes. He wondered if the old thing even worked anymore. It looked ancient.

“You can put that down, okay?” he said, most definitely not chuckling nervously.

“Yeah, like hell.” Romano used his free hand to brush some of his hair from his eyes. “And now you're going to tell me what the fuck you're doing here. What stories are you talking about?”

“The ones that you wrote! You know, the ones where you and I have awesome sex.”

There it was again, that nervous hand that tried to swat away a few imaginary strands of hair from his eyes.

“Y-yeah, right! Like there are stories like that! I don't know how you came up with this shit, but –”

“Of course there are! I read them all! I found them in your room in Venice a few weeks ago and copied the whole notebook. Look, I've got it all here,” Prussia said and placed his toybox on the table before the couch. 

The pages were at the very bottom, so he had to dig around a little, but finally he was able to get them out. He selected the first story he had read and handed those pages over to Romano.

It was certainly interestesting to watch how Romano's face once again changed colour. Usually, he just got redder and redder until it looked like his head might explode, but this time he grew paler than Prussia had ever seen him. The hand holding the pages began to tremble. The old gun fell to the floor, and Romano was soon clutching the sheets of paper with both hands.

“What the fuck?” he muttered. “How did you get these? Where the hell – Shit, what –”

“I told you,” Prussia said and leaned back on the couch. “I was snooping around in your room and found them. Man, that stuff is awesome! I just couldn't let that kind of chance go, so I copied everything.”

By now he expected Romano to catch on to why he was there, but he was still staring at him with that horrified look on his face, as if he had just found Prussia smearing mashed potatoes all over the Colosseum. His bottom lip began to tremble and Prussia got the feeling that his eyes were suddenly so bright because he was about to cry and that they wouldn't be tears of joy.

“Who have you told?” Romano asked in a shaky voice. “Did you... did you already put them up on your stupid blog, you bastard?”

“No, that's not –”

“What the fuck makes you think you have the right to look at my stuff? Just... just go fuck yourself and die, you disgusting – ”

The rest of Romano's rant went without Prussia understanding a word because a sob was torn from his throat and he threw the papers in his hands to the floor so that they scattered everywhere. He collapsed into the armchair behind him and buried his head into his arms as he cried.

Prussia tried clearing his throat. No reaction.

“Hey, uh, don't cry,” he said.

Damn, he thought. He had been rejected a few times, but never had he made someone bawl like this. Okay, so it had happened once or twice the morning after, but never before anything worthwhile actually took place.

“I'm going to kill you!” 

And without a warning, Romano had lunged at him, face twisted in rage. Thankfully Prussia's reflexes hadn't grown rusty despite years of not being used, and he was able to grab Romano's wrists before he hit him or scratched him in the face or whatever he was trying to do in his anger.

“Hey!” he snapped. “Are you stupid or what?”

“Let go!” Romano tried to pull his hands free, but he was no match for him. “I said let me go, dammit!”

“Not before you stop being a total idiot!”

Romano struggled a fraction of a moment longer, but then he seemed to realise how futile it was and slumped against him, all strength gone. Tears were still streaming down his face, and Prussia grimaced at the wet and snotty face that was currently pressed against his chest.

“You fucking potato!”

Then again, he supposed it was his fault in the first place.

“I haven't told anyone. Not even France. Nobody knows about these,” he said.

Romano turned to look at him at these words, eyes full of mistrust and disbelief. It was then that he seemed to realise how close they were and jerked away, and this time Prussia let go, figuring that the time for blind rage was over.

“How do I know you aren't lying?” Romano asked and wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Well, sheesh, if I had told someone, don't you think it would have reached you by now? Nations suck at keeping secrets, except me.”

Romano said nothing to that. He spent a few more moments trying to calm down, but even if his tears slowly stopped and he began to breathe normally again, his face was blotched and his eyes never stopped glaring at Prussia in suspicion.

“What do you want?” he asked. “Did you come here to laugh at me?”

“No, no, not at all! You've got it all wrong! I love those stories you wrote! They're hot!”

“What?”

“Yeah, I mean it! That's why I'm here!” Prussia grabbed the box on the table and pulled out one of the vibrators he had brought. “I want to try those things out for real!”

Romano was silent as he stared at the vibrator, then at Prussia and then at the vibrator again. He began to chew on his lower lip, clearly occupied with some worrying thought. Finally, he clenched his hands into fists on his knees and turned to glare at Prussia.

“So... You want to fuck me in exchange for not telling anyone?”

Hell, this wasn't going anything like he had planned.

“No, you've still got it wrong! I didn't come here to blackmail you. I'm here to make your fantasies come true!” Prussia announced, trying to stay confident. He couldn't help it; Romano's terrible reaction was beginning to put cracks into his ego. He had expected some resistance, sure, maybe even fighting. But he hadn't been ready for the fact that Romano might not jump into his arms, all eager and needy, as soon as he got over the initial shock.

“What the hell is your problem? What makes you think I'd ever let you – Goddammit, have you no shame, you stupid potato blight? You had no right to look at my things, and now you have the guts to just walk here and expect me to be happy? Just who the fuck do you think you are?”

“But you wrote those stories about us!”

“So?”

“So you should be happy that I want you! Isn't that why you wrote them? Because you want me?”

Damn, if Romano said no, he just might have to curl up in some hole and go lick his wounds. He had spent so much time imagining the two of them together that he had got used to it. If he had been wrong about this all along, he didn't know how he'd deal with that kind of disappointment – not to mention the humiliation of being rejected by Romano of all nations.

“Why I wrote them is none of your business. Get the fuck out of my house!”

“But –”

“Get out!”

There was such intense anger sparkling in Romano's eyes that Prussia decided to listen. He might have had a thing for rushing into battle when the odds were against him, but he wasn't suicidal.

When he was at the door, Romano's voice stopped him.

“If you ever tell anyone a word about what you read, I'm going to make you wish that they had put a bullet to your head back in 1947. Understand?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Prussia said as he stepped out. He slammed the door shut behind him, hoping that the impact broke a window or at least made some priceless Reneissance vase or shit fall over. 

Fuck. So much for that hot Italian holiday.


	6. Chapter 6

Clang! 

The empty plastic bottle that had had the misfortune of being in Prussia's way as he marched down the street flew against the car that was parked by the road. A small stone met nearly the same fate but missed the windshield just by a few centimetres. 

“Fucking self-centred Italian asshole,” he muttered. Romano had a lot of nerve writing those hot stories about them and then being completely against the idea of acting out his fantasies in real life. Talk about being a tease. And had it been necessary to kick him out like that, like he was just a piece of trash and like looking at him made him sick?

“What do I care? I'm way too good for him.” Yeah, this was barely a scratch in his ego. In fact, it was great that Romano had rejected him. No doubt he wrote those stories because he actually sucked in bed and coming up with elaborate fantasies was the only way for him to get any sexual satisfaction. Hah, what a loser! Prussia's time was too valuable to be wasted on people like him.

Too bad that this reasoning did very little to make him feel better. He kept going down the street, not caring where he was heading, and tried to convince himself that he wasn't at all disappointed by this turn of events and that he could have a fantastic time exploring Rome alone for the weekend. But it just didn't work, and as his marching slowed down and his breathing became more controlled again, he simply couldn't stand to be angry anymore.

He was miserable. Humiliated. Disappointed. He had thought Romano wanted him and had grown to love the idea. He liked to think of himself as invulnerable, but it hurt to have his dreams shot down like that.

But under all of that, there was another emotion that was slowly making itself known. As his anger faded away, he remembered the look on Romano's face at the moment he had realised that his secret had been discovered. It had been a look of fear and shame, of realising that his most personal thoughts were out in the open.

Yeah, maybe he could have told him the truth in a little more sensitive way. He hadn't wanted to make him cry.

Prussia stopped to stand in the middle of the sidewalk, not having a clue where he was and how he had got there from Romano's house. Not that it really mattered. He hadn't booked a hotel room because he had assumed that he'd be spending the weekend at Romano's place, so he had nowhere to go.

Since Germany thought he was in Spain, he hadn't given him money for accommodations. It took him several hours to find a place that he could squeeze into his meager budget while still having enough money left to grab a bite. Good thing he was in Italy, so even the cheapest options were actually edible.

By the time he got to his room, the day was already turning into an evening. The sky had developed a pinkish tint – not that it did him any good because the only window of his room faced a narrow alley where the motel's trash cans were. He didn't mind. There were lots of things he loved to do alone, but enjoying romantic views wasn't one of them.

He was lying on his bumpy bed and watching the shadows in the room grow longer, trying to occupy his mind with thoughts of where he was going to eat when he got hungry. Normally, he was always up for filling his stomach, but right now he just didn't have an appetite.

He wondered what Romano was doing and if he was still angry. Probably. He was hell-bent on holding onto his ridiculous grudge towards Germany even though he had never done anything to him so Prussia figured that after today, he was on top of Romano's list of people he hated. He'd probably stay there for centuries.

Should he apologize? He could count the times he had done that and truly meant it with the fingers of his hands. He loathed apologizing because it always involved admitting that he had done something shitty and regretted it, and that was bitter to stomach.

“It's not like he'd want to listen to my apology anyway,” he reasoned. Romano hated him, now more than ever. And yet the idea of just going back home and forgetting this whole fiasco made him want to squirm. Every time he told himself that this was what he had to do to save his dignity from further damage, he thought back to Romano's tear-streaked face and how it was all his fault.

“Fuck,” he muttered and reached up to rub his eyes.

A knock on his door brought him back from his thoughts. He got up and went to see who was bothering him when he was busy feeling like a dick. He wasn't exactly expecting a lot, but it was still somewhat of a disappointment to see that it was just the clerk from the lobby.

“What?” he asked.

“There's a phone call for you.”

Prussia frowned in puzzlement. Everyone who might want to call him had his cell phone number. Besides, nobody knew that he was in Italy and in this cheap-ass motel in particular. There couldn't possibly be a call for him. Maybe this was some kind of trick to lure tourists into a trap so that they could be robbed and killed.

Hell, if so, then yes, please. A good fight would do wonders to patch up his self-confidence and show him that even if the hottest Italian in the world didn't want to have sex with him, at least he was still invincible and kicked ass.

“Sure, thanks,” he said and flashed the clerk a predatory grin.

He was given the reception's cell phone, and he brought it to his ear, keeping an eye on his surroundings so that the group of assassins wouldn't be able to take him by surprise. Maybe they'd squeeze in through that tiny window. Or maybe there were some secret hiding places in the hallway. Or maybe this scrawny clerk was actually his only opponent. It could be; the Mafia types probably knew a dozen ways to kill someone without using brute force. Or maybe –

He was so occupied with these thoughts that he was actually surprised when he could hear a voice talking to him on the phone. He was even more surprised to realise that it belonged to Romano, so he missed everything that he said.

“Wait, what?” he asked once he realised that he hadn't caught a word.

“I said haul your ass back here and get this shit out of my house!”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Idiot! These... things you brought! Take them away!”

“Oh, you mean my toybox of joy? I didn't even realise I left it there. Whatever, you can keep it.”

“I don't want it!”

“Okay, then mail it to me in Berlin or throw it in the trash. I don't really feel like coming over there so that you can yell at me,” Prussia said. Inwardly, he was beating himself over the head because this was his perfect chance to apologize to Romano but his stupid pride wasn't even letting him consider it.

There was a moment of silence during which Prussia wondered why Romano hadn't either started another rant or just hung up. He was just about to ask if he was still there when Romano spoke again.

“I'm not touching anything in that box. And if I took it out to the trash can, the neighbours might get curious and come take a look. Like fuck am I ruining my reputation because of your stupid ideas. So get back here, take your garbage out yourself and get the hell out of my city!”

Prussia pursed his lips in displeasure. Now Romano was just being difficult on purpose.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked. “Did you call every single hotel in Rome to find me or what?”

“No. I just knew right away that you'd be naturally drawn to the dirtiest shithole in the city. Now stop talking and get in here!”

“And what if I don't?” 

“I'll tell Spain what you did.”

“You wouldn't!”

“Try me, bastard.”

Oh, fuck. Prussia hadn't even thought of that, but he knew with utter certainty that he didn't want Spain to find out about his shenanigans. He was ridiculously protective of Romano and would kick Prussia's ass if someone told him. 

Not that he could because Prussia was better and stronger, but he didn't really want to fight his friends. Yeah.

“Okay, fine, but there had better be dinner for me because I haven't eaten anything yet.”

“Yeah, right,” Romano said with a snort and hung up. 

Oh, boy, Prussia thought as he handed the phone back to the clerk. This was an unexpected turn of events. The sting of failure, humiliation and guilt was still scorching his insides, so he didn't really feel like going back to Romano's place, but he guessed he had no choice. He owed it to him to take his things away so that they could both move on and forget this embarrassing incident.

Romano lived a decent distance away from his motel, so he had to catch two buses to get there. To do that, he was forced to spend the money he had reserved for eating that evening, so he hoped that he'd manage to get at least some scraps from Romano before he was kicked out again.

However, he knew that these thoughts were only there to boost his confidence. In reality, he had no right to make any demands. He'd just grab his sex toys and get out the door as soon as he could.

It was almost dark outside when he arrived. There was light in the windows on the first floor, and as inviting as it looked, he couldn't help but wipe his hands on his trousers before ringing the doorbell. It wasn't often that he had to stand face to face with his mistakes this soon after making them.

“You didn't last long without me,” he said when Romano came to open the door, but his tone didn't convince even himself. Hell, this was awkward.

Romano said nothing, only glared at him for a moment before stepping aside to let him in. 

The box was still on the table in the living room where Prussia had left it. When he glanced inside, he saw that Romano had taken the copies of his notebook but that everything else was untouched.

He grabbed the box and cleared his throat.

“Okay, see here. What I said earlier –”

“I changed my mind.”

“Huh?”

Prussia had done his best to avoid eye contact with Romano after he had come inside, but now he turned to look straight at him in surprise. 

Romano didn't look okay. His eyes were rimmed red, like he had been crying for a long time after Prussia had first left. His hair was a mess, and he kept playing nervously with the sleeve of his shirt, as if his fingers couldn't be still for a minute.

“About the dinner?” Prussia guessed.

“No. About... about what you said earlier.”

Prussia spent a moment going through everything that had left his mouth that day, but then it suddenly clicked, and his brows shot up to his forehead. No way. He had to be wrong. Something was definitely off here.

“Uh, I'm not really following you.”

“The sex, you bastard!”

“But you said you didn't want it.”

“...I've reconsidered it.”

Romano sure didn't look like he had. Prussia didn't think he had ever in his life seen anyone who claimed to want sex when it was this obvious it wasn't true. Just hearing Romano say it in that defeated tone brought a bad taste to his mouth.

“I already said I'm not going to tell anyone. You don't have to do this to silence me,” he said.

“That's not it!” Romano snapped. “You said it yourself! I wrote those stories, so this is what I want, okay? Just get to it!”

Prussia collapsed on the couch, clutching the box in his hands. Had he just stepped through a portal that led to an alternative universe? This made no sense.

Romano seemed to take his silence as an invitation to make his move and joined him on the couch. He grabbed the box from him and put it aside, leaning closer to take its place on Prussia's lap.

“Hey –” Prussia protested, but he was cut off when Romano caught him into a kiss that, frankly, he hadn't been expecting. It wasn't a bad kiss, but not what he had imagined when reading Romano's stories. It was needy and desperate, but not in a good way. Nevertheless, his hands instinctively moved to grab Romano's sides, and the man pressed himself tighter against him.

“We shouldn't,” Prussia said as they broke apart.

“You're the one who wanted this.”

“Yeah, but not anymore.”

Romano straightened his back so that there was once again some distance between them and glared at him with accusing, uncertain eyes. 

“Just what the fuck is your problem?” he snarled. “First you march here like you own the damn place, and then you suddenly decide that you don't want me after all? Am I not good enough for you anymore?”

Prussia didn't know what to say. The part of him that sometimes stopped to consider the feelings of others knew that if he went along with what Romano wanted, he'd end up hurting him. Which would suck because sex was supposed to be fun. But it looked like if he said no now, he'd still hurt him. 

What the hell? Why was this suddenly so complicated?

“Sure you're good enough for me,” he said. And that if any was a compliment when he said and meant it. “But you're upset about something, and it doesn't look like you're even enjoying yourself right now. I don't sleep with people who look like they're about to burst into tears.”

“Fuck you. I should have known you don't have the guts.”

“Hey, I have guts! At least tell me why you suddenly changed your mind like that. I know that everyone wants a piece of me, but I thought you were angry at me. That's why you kicked me out, right?”

“Doesn't matter. If you aren't interested, then get the hell out of here.”

That was the easy way out, Prussia knew. He'd just grab his box, walk out the door and forget this had ever happened. That was how he dealt with a lot of the problems in his life; he just ignored them and pretended that everything was fine. But this wasn't just his problem. Something was wrong with Romano, and it was more than likely that it was entirely his fault, even if he didn't just yet understand what it was. He had caused this.

“Hey, don't get mad. I'm interested, okay?” 

Maybe he could stall for time and get Romano talking. Or if not, he could at least make it all worthwhile for the both of them. Maybe Romano was telling the truth. Maybe he really did want this but was just so nervous about screwing up that he was on the verge of tears?

“So, uh,” he said, “what exactly would you like to do?”

Romano crossed his arms on his chest and glared at the living room table with puffed cheeks, seemingly in thought, but Prussia got the feeling that he was just avoiding having to look at him.

“I... I want you to... tie me down. Make it like in my stories. You read them, so... you know what I want,” he mumbled.

Prussia needed a moment to gather his thoughts. Sure, he had come to Rome to do exactly that, but it was still strange to hear Romano say it.

“Yeah, I can do that. But isn't that a little intense for a first time?”

“It's just sex, so what does it matter?”

Yeah, that was a sound reasoning. Why was he over-thinking this? It wouldn't be the first time he slept with someone just because they both wanted it, no strings attached. He could do that with Romano, too. No problem. This could still be great despite the rocky beginning.

Maybe he'd just go along with it for now and see what happened. He'd proceed slowly and do some of the nice things from Romano's stories, like cover his body in kisses as he undressed him. That should make Romano relax.

Without a word, he grabbed the front of Romano's shirt and pulled him close into a kiss. Romano let out a muffled groan but didn't resist. His lips were rough and forceful, just the way Prussia liked it. He grinned against him and punctuated each kiss by unbuttoning one of the buttons on Romano's shirt to get access to his skin.

He slipped his hands under Romano's shirt and ran his fingers over his chest and stomach, but when his hand travelled down to play where his trousers started, he felt Romano's entire body stiffen against him. It was as if there wasn't a single relaxed muscle in him.

He stopped there and took another look at the man on his lap. Romano was leaning his head against his chest and avoiding eye contact. The hands draped over his shoulders were trembling, and Prussia couldn't bring himself to believe that the uneven breathing was due to arousal.

There was nothing sexy about this. Hell, he probably couldn't get it up even if he went through with this.

He also realised something else. The reason why none of this was going like he had wanted was so obvious that he felt like smacking himself over the head. Of course this wasn't hot. This wasn't one of Romano's stories. In them, everything was great because they had a relationship full of trust and affection, but that relationship wasn't real.

“To hell with this,” he muttered and began to button Romano's shirt. “Change of plans, pasta boy.”

“What?” Romano asked as he turned to look at him. The worry and uncertainty were still visible on his face, and Prussia knew that he'd have to figure out just what was going on inside his head before the day was over. None of his actions ever since he had got here had made sense.

“The way I see it, I can't just shove a vibrator up your ass if I don't even know what your favourite ice cream flavour is. So I'm going to find out. You have five minutes to grab your jacket and then we're going out. My treat.”

“What trick are you trying to pull, bastard?”

“No tricks, honest! What would I gain? I already had you right here.”

Romano's glare didn't grow any less suspicious.

“Then what do you want?” he asked.

Prussia chuckled in a way that totally wasn't nervous.

“I know I sound like a complete wuss when I say this, but we need to talk.”


	7. Chapter 7

Even though he had said they'd be going out in five minutes, Prussia had to wait twenty before Romano emerged from his room upstairs. He had snapped he'd just get his jacket, but Prussia suspected that he needed all that time to collect himself after the embarrassing disaster they had almost allowed to happen.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to make some sense of the day's events. Not much luck there. It was as if his brain had frozen because of all the strange things that he couldn't understand. And hell, he was tired. It was years since he had last had to experience this much emotional turmoil, and he had almost forgotten how exhausted it could leave a man.

When Romano finally appeared at the top of the stairs, he looked considerably better, but the suspicious frown hadn't left his face.

“I already thought you weren't coming,” Prussia said.

“I thought you'd be gone by now.”

Prussia frowned. Should he have left? Maybe Romano had taken his time because he had wanted to give them both the easy way out but had finally had to give up because he had taken over the couch? But if so, he could have kicked him out. He had already showed he was good at that.

“I really want that ice cream,” he said. And dinner, he added mentally. Damn, he was hungry.

“You don't need me for that, idiot! I bet you're trying to pull me along so that you can pretend that you forgot your wallet and make me pay.”

“I wouldn't do that!” Prussia objected. Except for the times he had done it to France and Spain, but that kind of thing was allowed between friends.

Romano snorted in disdain. “Yeah, like I'm going to believe a guy who sneaks around other people's rooms and steals their things.”

“Yeah, about that...” Prussia started awkwardly. Even though the past twenty minutes hadn't really helped him form a clear image of the situation, there was one thing he knew. If he wanted things to ever be decent between them – or at least get back to the original level of animosity – he had better get that issue cleared and apologize, no matter how much he hated it.

“Don't waste your breath. I'm not interested in your excuses.”

“They're not excuses! I want to apologize!”

“Do you even feel sorry?”

Prussia stopped to think. He hadn't meant to make Romano cry or hurt him, yeah. He was sorry about that. But to be honest, he didn't regret finding the stories or reading them, and he knew that this incident wouldn't redeem him and stop him from pulling stunts like that again. He'd just try to get a little better at not being caught or blurting out his guilt.

Romano flashed him a mocking smirk. “Thought so. Get the fuck out, bastard.”

“Wait, no!” Prussia sat up straight on the couch. “I know it was a really dick thing to do to take a look at your stuff, but I wasn't planning it! I didn't expect to find anything like that, and when I realised what it was, it was already too late to stop.”

“What, you had time to make a copy of every single page, take them home for further reading and come here to make passes at me before you realised what an ass you were? I knew you had potatoes in place of your brain, but I didn't know you were that fucking stupid!”

Prussia groaned and made a disgruntled face. “Yeah, that was sucky of me, but I didn't want to hurt you. I thought I could make you happy and that it would cancel out all the bad things that I did.”

“You thought coming here to fuck me would make up for stealing my things and destroying my privacy? Apologizing usually involves some remorse, you asshole! And if you really think sex counts, you're even more more of an idiot than I realised.”

“But –”

“Are you really so goddamn full of yourself that you think I'll forget what you did just because you say you want to have sex with me? That I'll just fall into your arms and that makes it all okay?”

“Well, you –” Prussia started, about to point out that only moments ago, that had pretty much been what Romano had been up to. However, he decided to deal with that later. Maybe Romano would be more willing to tell him what that had been all about if they dealt with his apology first.

“Yeah, I thought that,” he admitted with the shadow of a sheepish grin on his lips. “But can you blame me? I mean, with these looks –”

Romano's glare quickly convinced him to switch tactics.

“No, sorry. What I meant to say is that I made a mistake.”

“You can say that again, you fucker.”

“Yeah, it was a mistake to look at your stuff. I'm sorry. But the biggest mistake is that I tried to move too fast. I should have known that you wouldn't just want to jump to bed straight away. Other stuff has to come first, like, uh, dates and watching the sunset and sharing a beer and...”

Prussia drifted off as he realised that the look on Romano's face wasn't softening at all. The hell? Why wasn't this working? He was being sincere here, which was kind of a rare thing for him.

“Come on, help me out here. What more do you want me to say?” he asked.

“There's nothing you need to say because it won't change what you did.”

“What, so you won't forgive me? Are you going to hate me forever?”

Romano pursed his lips in discomfort and sat down on one of the armchairs. He spent a long time staring at his feet.

“Does it matter?” he finally asked. “Other than that I'm going to make your life hell when you come to visit Veneziano with your stupid brother?”

“Sure it does! I don't want you to hate me. When I read those... Okay, this is going to sound bad at first, but bear with me for a while, okay?” Prussia drew a deep breath, glad that Romano at least seemed to be listening. “When I read those stories, I realised that there was a lot more to you than – wait, no, don't give me that look! I don't mean the sex, but that was great, too. I mean... other things.”

“What other things?”

Prussia winched at the venom in Romano's voice. But there was only one way to go now that he had stepped on this road.

“Things like... You know, sappy things. I really liked those scenes that were about cuddling and stuff after all the mind-blowing sex. And you know what the absolute hottest thing in the stories was? How you were so sure that nothing bad was going to happen because you trusted me so much.”

Prussia paused to run his fingers through his hair and grinned at Romano who was staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“And that's really awesome. Nobody usually trusts me with anything important, and I can't think of many things more important than that. That's why I came here. Not just because of the sex but because I want to have that kind of bond with someone.”

He hoped that Romano would be too surprised by his words to notice the blush that had to be creeping to his face by now. It wasn't often that he let something like this out of his mouth. Romano had better not tell anyone, ever.

“You've got some guts,” Romano muttered. “Do you think I'm going to have a bond like that with a guy who sneaks into my room, looks into my most private stuff and then steals it?”

“I said I'm sorry!”

Romano crossed his arms on his chest and pouted. “Doesn't cut it.”

“Then what do I have to do? I want to make it up to you, and I promise I won't ever do anything like that to you again!” When it looked like his words were having no effect, Prussia decided to lay all his cards on the table. “Look, I'm going to be honest here. I want to get to know you better. Let's at least try to be more than two guys who have to tolerate each other because their brothers are dating.”

Romano's reply was lifting his knees up to the armchair so that he was hugging them. He didn't say anything, and Prussia decided that he wasn't going to demand an answer out of him. This was probably a lot to digest, and he'd be happy if Romano didn't explode in anger and kick him out right away.

“But I've got some questions,” he said.

“Yeah, what?”

“You put me in all of those stories, so... Do you think I'm sexy?”

“What?” Romano blurted out, his voice high with outrage.

“Yeah, stupid question, I know. Of course you do. But is it just me, or have you written stories like that about others, too?”

“That's none of your fucking business! I thought you promised you wouldn't pry into my life anymore!”

“I said I wouldn't do it without your permission, but I'm asking an honest question here.”

“And I don't have to answer. If you're just going to talk shit like that, get out. I'm done with you,” Romano said in irritation. Prussia rather liked the red tint that had taken over his cheeks and the angry pursing of his lips, but he knew better than to comment on them.

“No, I have one more question, and this one is really important.”

“It had better not be stupid.”

“You said you didn't want to sleep with me, but then you said you changed your mind even though anyone could see that wasn't true. What's up with that? What did you _really_ want to do tonight?”

Romano glared stubbornly at the floor, and after a while Prussia realised that he wasn't going to talk.

“I think I deserve an answer for this one. What if I hadn't noticed how much you didn't want it? Or what if I had been a dick and hadn't cared?” he pointed out. Then he recalled what he had overheard Romano telling Italy in the bathroom during the meeting. He had said he just fucked people and tossed them aside. Prussia had assumed it had been nothing but one of Romano's usual temper tantrums, but maybe he really did think that.

Not fair, he thought in irritation. There was nothing wrong with one-night stands as long as everyone involved knew they weren't anything more than that.

“I thought I'd take what I can get,” Romano muttered, so quiet that Prussia almost didn't hear him.

“What?”

“Oh, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! Fine, I think you're hot. But today alone you have provided me with at least a dozen reasons why I shouldn't get close to you,” Romano said and turned to look at him with such a resigned and angry look in his eyes that Prussia felt like the lowest slime in the world. 

“But –”

“And I figured that since you already found out everything, I had nothing to lose anymore. You'd laugh at me anyway. So I thought I'd make the best of it since everything was ruined and maybe fix some of the damage. Because...” Romano drifted off and licked his lips. “Because if it's just sex, it doesn't matter and you can't use it against me.”

Prussia couldn't bring himself to say anything. He hadn't even realised how deep this whole thing had cut Romano. All this time, he had just been thinking about himself and what he wanted.

“Well – ” he started, but Romano was quick to cut him off.

“Don't say a fucking thing,” he growled. “You have no idea what it feels like to sit here and say this shit to you. You just... Never mind. Fuck it.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the chair, and Prussia wondered if he was going to start crying again. No way was he letting that happen.

“Hey, listen. I'm sorry, okay? I won't ever tell anyone, and I won't laugh. I don't think you're stupid or anything like that. Stop looking like the Colosseum just collapsed. It's not awesome.”

Romano didn't respond, and for a while it was eerily silent in the living room. Then Prussia's stomach growled.

“Crap, I forgot how hungry I am,” he said and rubbed his abdomen. Just ice cream wouldn't do anymore, and besides, it was starting to look unlikely that Romano would go anywhere with him. He'd probably be having a solitary dinner tonight.

More uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Romano let out a disgusted snort. “There's week-old lasagne in the fridge. You can eat it so that I don't have to bother with throwing it away.”

“Really?” Prussia asked, not quite ready to believe in such a nice act after everything that had just happened. But he never said no to free food, so he didn't question this turn of events as he followed Romano into the kitchen.

The kitchen looked old, as if Romano had been using the same furniture for at least a century and had just added some electricity and modern appliances out of necessity. It was tidy, though, to the point that even Germany wouldn't have found much to complain about. All that was out of place was an open jar of basil on the counter.

Romano took out a pan from the fridge, shoved it into Prussia's hands and told him to heat it in the microwave.

“This doesn't look like it's older than a day,” Prussia pointed out as he took a peek under the lid.

“Since when do you know anything about Italian cuisine? I made it last week, and it's probably full of mould and shit. I hope you get sick.”

Prussia decided that the best thing to do was to shut his mouth for now and not provoke Romano so that he wouldn't kick him out before he had eaten. He didn't ask for a beer when Romano slammed a bottle of orange juice at the table before him.

“This is really good,” he commented after the first few bites. If this was what week-old lasagne tasted like, he'd have to invite himself over some time and try it fresh from the oven.

Romano huffed angrily. “It just feels that way because you're so stupid that you went the whole day without eating anything. And you eat potatoes and other disgusting things, so if you think it's good, it's probably not suitable for consumption anymore.”

“Sheesh, fine. Don't accept the compliment if it's that hard.”

As he ate, Prussia kept wondering what was going to happen next. Romano's earlier words had made him think that he'd never forgive him, but then why would he feed him? He had never done that even before this whole fiasco had happened.

“You never really answered one of my questions,” he said. “So, are you going to hate me forever?”

Romano turned to look at him, and his eyes were so full of fire that Prussia was surprised the table hadn't burst into flames when he had been staring at it earlier.

“And how the hell do you think that would work, asshole? If I start hating you more than usual, Veneziano is going to notice. That little idiot would stick his nose into my business and not give it up, and there's no fucking way that I'm risking having him learn about any of this.” 

“So, that means...”

“That means we're going to pretend that none of this ever happened, and if I ever hear you refer to this even by a word, I'm going to do something really unpleasant. I can do a lot of things that your banal mind can't even imagine.”

Prussia quickly shoved more lasagne into his mouth so that he wouldn't point out that after reading Romano's stories, he had no trouble believing that. This had gone better than he had expected, and he couldn't risk ruining it again.

“I won't tell anyone,” he said once he was sure that nothing stupid would come out of his mouth. “I wouldn't even if you hadn't threatened me. I'm not that much of a dick.”

Romano let out a sound that was something between a snort and a chortle. “It'll be a blizzard in Rome the day I believe that.”

“Wouldn't be the first time weather goes crazy to accommodate my awesomeness.”

“Whatever. Now drag your so called awesomeness out my door and get lost. I'm this fed up with you right now and can't stand to look at you.”

That was reasonable, Prussia supposed. At the very least it was a lot better reaction than what he had thought he deserved only a moment ago. 

His ego didn't sting as much as before, and he was in a relatively good mood as he was walking down to the bus stop to make it back to his motel. Okay, time for a status report. One, Romano didn't hate him, at least not more than before. Two, Romano thought he was hot. Three, his stomach was full. 

These three points would form a pretty good base for further strategies, but he supposed that if he wanted to be decent, he'd keep his distance for a while.

Yeah, no more passes at Romano from now on. Better retreat and let the dust settle over the battlefield. He was so over this whole matter.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The church part in this chapter is a reference to my favourite Prussia/Austria story, "By Their Proper Names" by archosauria.

Prussia woke up when it was still dark. His bed was like someone had used it as a trampoline, and it had taken him over an hour of tossing around to find a position he could sleep in. Now his back announced that it had had enough and forced him awake.

He squinted his eyes against the light as he glanced at his cell phone's clock. Just half five. He hadn't got up this early since the times he had been a soldier. These days, he stayed up so late playing online games that he usually slept until noon if he didn't have to be anywhere.

And he sure didn't have to be anywhere today. His flight didn't leave until the next evening, so he had plenty of time to explore the city and do something great. He didn't yet know what that would be, but he'd make sure everyone would remember this as the day when Prussia had been in Rome.

Turning over to lie on his stomach to give his poor back some relief, he contemplated what to do. It was too early to go outside and have breakfast. He might have to skip that anyway if he wanted to be able to afford a decent lunch.

Damn, it sucked being broke. If only he hadn't been so certain that he'd be able to worm his way right into Romano's heart. Then he wouldn't have spent all his money on sex toys that he probably wouldn't ever use.

“I wonder if I can eat this,” he mused as he reached out to grab a bottle of pear-scented lube from the box by the bed.

He decided not to risk it and tossed the bottle back. Since he had nothing better to do, he figured he could go out for bit of a walk and see if there was anything interesting going on this early.

He got dressed, slipped outside past the clerk who was snoring in the reception and stepped into the dim morning. It was still a few moments until the day would dawn, but he could already spot a rim of light against the sky behind the closest buildings.

His motel was located far away from the busier parts of the city, so it turned out that there wasn't much excitement to be observed. He spotted a postman and some people who were going to work, but other than that, he was left alone as he walked, occasionally taking a detour into smaller alleys because they looked inviting.

He came to a halt when he arrived at a small cobblestone square. A small church was huddled between the surrounding buildings, looking so old and forgotten that he wouldn't be surprised to hear that nobody was looking after it anymore. Out of curiosity, he jogged up the stairs and tried the door, but it was locked.

He had been Catholic once, but religion played no great role in his life anymore. He still liked churches and monasteries, maybe because he had spent so much time in them when he had been small and had fond memories of them. It was embarrassing, and he'd never admit it to anyone, but sometimes when he was in a church, he almost felt whole again, like he still had lands and people somewhere.

“Oh, well,” he said after giving the door one last tug. He hadn't come to Rome to look at churches. He was here to have fun and enjoy himself, and his favourite ways to do that involved things that would probably get him banned from every holy building in the world. So, to be on the safe side, no churches. Besides, just by standing here on the stairs, he could tell that this wasn't one of those churches that made his heart flutter.

As he was leaving, it crossed his mind what the father would say if he went to confess what had happened with Romano. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had sworn he'd never tell a soul – and he took promises more seriously than anyone probably realised – he might have done it just to see what would happen.

His good mood faded somewhat as his thoughts were turned to Romano. He had screwed up pretty badly. It had never even crossed his mind that he might reject him because he thought he was nothing but trouble.

I'm not trouble, Prussia thought, feeling irritated and maybe a tiny bit hurt. It wasn't fair that Romano had such a low opinion of him that he was afraid to give him a chance even though he obviously had the hots for him.

How was he going to solve that problem? He had sworn that he'd give Romano some space and not bother him anymore, but if he did that, he couldn't show him that he wasn't half that bad. No, scratch that. He couldn't show him that he was the best there was!

Maybe he could get Italy to put in a good word for him. Or Spain. Yeah, Spain would be even better. The sooner this problem got solved, the sooner they could hook up and be twice as great together.

It took him some time to find his way back through the side alleys to the busier parts of the city. The sun was in the process of climbing up to the sky, and some bakeries and cafés were open to serve those who were off to work. 

Prussia wasn't a fan of Italian coffee because the cups were usually so small. It had more caffeine to make up for it, yeah, but half the fun of drinking coffee came from drinking a lot of it.

He bought a loaf of bread because it was cheap and would keep him full until it was time to have lunch. The bird on top of his head made itself known when he broke the first piece, and he threw a few crumbs onto his head to make the peeping stop.

“You had better eat all of it, okay? I don't want to walk around with bread in my awesome hair.”

He spent an hour just loitering about and looking at the buildings. The funny thing about Italy was that everything looked pretty, even something as mundane as an apartment building or a newspaper stand. Once he got enough of looking at the architecture, he made his way to a small park and decided to lie down for a while and maybe have a nap since the grass was more comfortable than his bed.

“Do you think I should try a different approach with Romano?” he asked as he placed Gilbird on his chest. He didn't usually even acknowledge that he was there, but he was a good companion at times of introspection. Even if he didn't manage to solve his problems, he always felt better after listening to his own voice for a while.

He dug his hand into his pocket to get his phone and took a photo of himself in the grass. 

“I mean, look at me. Anyone would want me,” he said as he swiftly uploaded the photo on his blog. “But maybe I shouldn't have ditched the idea of flowers so soon. Yeah, they're sissy, but not everyone can be a tough guy like me. Maybe Romano likes that kind of thing. What do you think?”

“Peep, peep!”

“But good flowers are pretty expensive. France took me to this boutique once and I could have bought enough beer for a week with the kind of ridiculous money they asked for five roses. And I don't even like flowers. Maybe I should take Romano out to some fancy restaurant instead. Then I'd get something out of it, too.”

He yawned and reached out to tap at the bird's head with his index finger. “But on the other hand, I should get him something that I don't like so that he can't accuse me of being self-centred. I should take him to a piano concert. I bet he'd fall to his knees in gratitude once he realised how much I'm willing to suffer for his sake.”

The longer he lied there, the more comfortable the ground felt. His thoughts became slower, and he yawned once more before he decided that he might just as well stop his plotting for now and catch up on his sleep.

He didn't know what time it was when he woke up, but the shade of the tree he was lying under had moved enough to leave him exposed in sunlight. He covered his eyes in irritation and sat up groggily, hoping that he hadn't been in the sun for long. His skin was such a perfect pale shade that it was just too good for tanning, so he always ended up looking like a boiled crab if he wasn't careful.

“I'm hungry again. Let's have some cheap pizza for lunch,” he said and placed the bird back onto his head.

He found his way to a quiet street that was riddled with cafés and restaurants on both sides. He was just about to step under the shade provided by the large umbrellas that protected the customers from sunlight when he noticed a familiar figure on the other side of the street.

Romano was sitting at a table outside a different café, holding a cup of coffee and reading a newspaper. Or at least he had been reading it. Right now he was talking to the waitress. And he was _smiling._ Really, truly smiling.

Prussia was momentarily frozen where he was. He had never seen Romano like that, so at ease and so... so confident. He was like a different person, someone who didn't hate the world and could talk without insulting everyone in sight.

He couldn't decide what to do. If he stayed here any longer, he'd soon start to look like a creepy stalker. That wouldn't raise his points in Romano's eyes. But if he went there and talked to him, he knew that the charming smile would disappear from his face the moment he spotted him.

It should be okay to approach him, he reasoned. He had promised that he'd give Romano some space, so he wouldn't be doing anything to piss him off. And this could be a great chance to prove that he wasn't a bad guy.

“Hey!” he called out and marched over.

Romano turned to look, and as expected, the usual unhappy frown took over his features. He put down his cup and pressed his lips into a tight line as he glared at him.

“What the hell are you still doing here?” he asked once Prussia had made it over and taken the seat opposite to him.

“My flight doesn't leave until tomorrow.”

“Take another one or go by train. Just get the fuck out of my city!”

Okay, so this wasn't going so well. Prussia spent a moment considering if he should charge or stall for time and decided that the latter option would at least prolong the battle a little. So, no pointing out that he could do whatever he wanted or saying anything else that would just ruffle Romano's feathers even more.

“I just want to make sure you're okay,” he said, mentally congratulating himself for his smooth manoeuvre.

“I'll be okay as soon as you're gone!”

“Come on, don't be like that! Why can't we just do something fun? Let's have lunch and then you can show me something cool. I can't imagine anyone giving a better tour of Rome!”

Unfortunately, Romano didn't seem taken in by his praise. He downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp, folded up his newspaper and got on his feet. 

“I don't want to spend another moment with you. Thanks for ruining my day, asshole. Again!”

“But why not?” Prussia asked in exasperation.

Romano threw the newspaper at Prussia's face.

“Because you're such an idiot that you have to ask!”

And so Prussia ate lunch alone, wondering what Romano's problem was and why his apology just wouldn't cut it.

***

Contrary to what Austria was always telling him, Prussia could in fact take a hint. That was why he didn't try to approach Romano again during the remainder of his stay in Rome and instead had a fantastic time hanging out by himself and getting to see all the famous places. Or he would have if he hadn't lost his wallet – or as he liked to think of it, if destiny hadn't decided that the damn thing, most of his IDs, photos and driver's licence needed to be replaced to match his ever increasing level of awesomeness. At least his passport was in his motel room, so he made it to his flight without problems and arrived home in time.

“This is why it's good you don't have a real credit card,” Germany pointed out as they were driving home from the airport.

“Visa Electron is for kids,” Prussia muttered. And people who had no steady income.

“Even if someone took it, the worse they've done is empty your account.”

Prussia snorted. That wouldn't do anyone any good. He had spent most of his money on the sex toys that were currently in the bag in his lap. He didn't care about the card, but he was going to miss the old Polaroid photo of him and Hungary in the summer of '73.

“Anyway, how was Spain?” Germany asked.

“The same as always. But hey, tell me about your weekend with Italy!” 

As he listened to Germany's vague answers, he turned to stare out the window and watched the different parts of Berlin they drove through. It was a nice evening, one he would have usually spent roaming the city because he loved being surrounded by the people and thinking back to all the history he had witnessed. 

Today he guessed he'd lock himself up in the basement, watch stupid movies and drink beer.

“Are you alright?”

“Huh? What?”

“You seem a little down.”

“Oh, blah. I'm just tired from all the partying with Spain.”

It wasn't as if he could tell his brother that it bugged him that he had utterly failed at charming Romano off his feet and that he still didn't understand what had gone wrong. Okay, so the whole thing with copying the stories had been a dick move, sure. But Romano had basically admitted that he liked him, so why wasn't his apology good enough? Why couldn't they just put this issue behind them and see if it would work out between them?

Maybe he should talk to France, he thought. This just might be a situation that he was too manly to handle alone.

“Well, I hope you aren't too tired to do some work.”

“You need the bathroom cleaned again? Didn't I just do that?”

“You know it needs to be cleaned at least once a week, but no, that's not it. I talked to Italy over the weekend, and I think you should have more responsibilities,” Germany said.

“What, you'll finally let me get close enough to the car to wash it?”

“No. I was thinking that you should come to meetings from now on, at least to some of them. Like Italy and Romano.”

Prussia blinked in surprise, and at first he didn't know what to say. If it had been anyone but Germany to suggest that, he would have suspected him of messing with him. As much as he had enjoyed his recent experience of filling in for Germany, he knew there was no point in him going to meetings if his brother was there. He was the one who held all the power and made all the decisions in the country.

That was why Prussia never missed a chance to joke about how useless the meetings were and how little he thought of modern politics. He figured that if everyone saw him laugh about it, nobody would realise how much it actually hurt to stand on the sidelines.

“Where did this come from?” he asked in some suspicion. It was over twenty years since the reunification. He refused to believe that it was only now that the idea had crossed Germany's mind.

“It's just that Italy said you were really good at the previous meeting and I thought –”

“Bullshit, West! First, you've always known I can get shit done. Don't forget it was me who taught you how to run a country. Second, since when do you value Italy's opinion on politics? Now tell me the real reason.”

He saw Germany's hold on the wheel tighten until his knuckles were white.

“Italy told me about his grandfather's latest visit and how he's always glad to see him, even if the visits are rare. I... It just got me thinking that... what if...”

Uncomfortable silence fell between them.

“Wait,” Prussia said as it began to dawn on him. “You're giving me work because you think I'm dying?”

“Well, not exactly, but –”

“Man, that's a good one! Someone really fooled you well! Just look at me and tell me if you think someone who's in such perfect shape could be dying. Yeah, thought so. There's absolutely nothing wrong with me.”

“Maybe not now, but who knows what will happen in a few decades? We shouldn't risk it. It could be too late if we wait for the symptoms and I don't want to... I don't... Italy told me that he and Romano agreed to share everything years ago just to be sure neither will disappear.”

Prussia listened to his brother stumble over his words and wondered what had suddenly happened to the man who could make half the world shit their pants by yelling a few orders. It was a long time since he had last seen him like this. Then again, he was so much younger than most of the others in Europe. Much, much younger than Italy who should know better than to talk about this stuff with him.

“Look at you. You're being such a kid.” he finally said. “Yeah, I totally get why you're worried you'd have to go on without me because nobody could ask for a better big brother. But I told you I'm fine. You don't have to give me scraps just to keep me breathing.”

“They aren't scraps. I'm worried about you,” Germany said as they arrived at their house.

“Pfft, no need to.”

It wasn't like he would suddenly become a real nation again just because he did some paperwork every now and then. Germany had to know that as well, but he was the kind of man who just couldn't sit back and let things be simple and develop at their own pace.

On the other hand, it might have been fun to go to meetings and get to hang out with the others. He rarely talked to anyone but his brother, France, Spain, Italy and sometimes Hungary and Austria, and he was starting to feel a little claustrophobic with the way his social life was shrinking. At least if he went to meetings, everyone would see that he was in fact still alive. 

But if he went there, the others would ask why. Sooner or later, someone would figure out why Germany had dragged him along and put him on secretary duty. Then there'd be looks of pity, and he'd rather stay home than deal with those.

Then again, he mused as he opened the fridge to get a beer, if he could come up with some really good reason to go to a meeting every now and then, he could try to get closer to Romano. Or would that be stalking? Should he just stay away like Romano had said?

Damn, it was such a dilemma. If he didn't do what Romano had asked, he'd just be proving that he didn't care about his feelings, just like when he had copied the stories. But if he kept his distance, Romano would never know what a great guy he was. Either way, it was pretty hopeless.

It briefly crossed his mind that he should just forget about the whole thing and give up. If this had been a normal rejection, no problem. He could have done that. But he knew there was something going on here that he didn't quite understand yet. He had the feeling that Romano hadn't been entirely honest with him, or at least had deliberately left something unsaid.

Perfect justification, he decided. It was practically his responsibility to get to the bottom of this, even if he'd just get turned away over and over again.


	9. Chapter 9

“If it'll make you stop fretting, fine, I'll come to a meeting or two.”

Germany glanced at him over his newspaper.

“I'm not fretting,” he said stiffly.

“Yeah, you are. You put a cube of sugar into your coffee and then another one later because you forgot about the first one. I was looking. And don't get me started on how polished the kitchen is. Even you don't clean this much unless something's bugging you.”

Germany's reply was a low hum, and then he hid behind the paper again.

Prussia sighed but decided to use this chance to take a spoonful of Nutella and shove it into his mouth. He had thought Germany would get over his worries soon and that everything would go back to normal, but it looked like whatever Italy had told him had really got under his skin.

His feelings kept shifting between insulted, touched and guilty. It was unbelievable that his own brother couldn't see that he was so awesome that he just couldn't die. Hadn't history proved it time and time again? He was invincible, the last one standing. As if anyone else could keep living and feeling this great even without a country.

On the other hand, his ego was very much enjoying the fact that Germany was worried about him, that he was scared of losing him. And that was making him guilty because a great guy like him wasn't supposed to get so much satisfaction from his kid brother's problems.

So, he figured he could deal with two problems at the same time – he'd go to a meeting or two to put Germany's mind at ease and to keep an eye on Romano. If he got the chance to talk to France alone, maybe he'd even ask how lesser men dealt with situations like his, just for curiosity's sake.

“When's the next meeting?” he asked.

“On Friday. In Brussels.”

“Cool, we should grab some chocolate while we're there.”

Maybe Romano would be in a better mood if he fed some chocolate to him. He was pretty close with Belgium, so he probably liked her stuff.

“Okay, so what's my job when we get there? It had better be something great. If you're just making me serve coffee to everyone, I'm backing out,” Prussia said. He couldn't imagine what Germany would have him do. His brother was too much of a control freak to share any of his responsibilities.

“I was thinking you could take over the economical situation in the east and do something to improve the industry over there,” Germany said, still not looking at him from behind his paper.

Prussia lifted his brows. “What, in time for Friday? Get real Weast! I'm awesome, but that's asking a bit too much!”

“Not on Friday. I meant in general. There's nothing special I have in mind for Friday, but you should come anyway.”

Prussia shoved another huge glob of Nutella into his mouth as he mulled it over. Even though Germany had worked like crazy to raise the eastern half of the country to its feet after the reunification, there was still a lot of work to be done. So much in fact that he wasn't sure he felt like doing it. Plus, it was pretty obvious what Germany's hidden motive was.

He wasn't sure if East Germany was the kind of identity he wanted to hold onto. Or if it was fair to cling to it and expect his people to feel like they were different from those in west. Wasn't the whole point that the country was supposed to be united as one nation?

“You really think I'm dying, don't you? What the heck did Italy tell you to make you snap like this?” he asked.

“It doesn't matter. I've decided that we're doing this, and it's final.”

Sheesh, Prussia thought in irritation. Germany could have asked for his opinion, too.

“Well, I guess if all the work is too much for you, I have no choice but to step in and take it off your shoulders. It's pretty impressive that you lasted for two decades, but we all knew you'd have to ask for my help sooner or later,” he said.

“It's –” Germany started, but he stopped when he took a glance over his paper and saw Prussia dipping his spoon into the Nutella jar that was now half empty. “Prussia, I bought that yesterday.”

“Yeah, so? There's always more at the store.”

“Your teeth will rot. If you're going to take over half of the country, you should try to act a little more sensible.”

Prussia gave his spoon a rebellious lick. “I've always been like this, and it never stopped me from being the best. You're just being grumpy because you know that I'll improve things in east so fast that it'll completely overshadow everything you've ever done.”

Germany let out a long-suffering sigh and dropped the matter. Prussia didn't feel like talking about it either. This whole ordeal could be a really awesome thing or a really horrible thing. In many ways, it would be great to try his hand at real work again, but he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he would just be masquerading as a nation. It wasn't the same as being a real one.

And if he tried to do it, he had better be fantastic at it. Giving up because it was too difficult or because he couldn't get the desired results wasn't an option. If he got into this, he couldn't back off without it being definite proof that he was a relic and couldn't survive in the modern world.

But if he _could_ do it... Then Romano would have to take back his words and admit that he was good for something.

Yeah, Prussia decided. He wanted to be great and look good in Romano's eyes. Even more than he wanted to rub it to Austria's face that he was back in the game.

***

Prussia couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious as he stepped into the conference room on Friday morning. Last time, he had had a good reason to attend, but this time he didn't like how everyone's eyes were suddenly on him.

I'm awesome; I can do this, he thought and plastered his face with his best grin as he searched for France or Spain in the crowd. It didn't take long to find them. Spain was talking loudly and gesturing wildly with his hands as he was telling something to Belgium, France and Netherlands.

“Hey, guys!” Prussia called out and waved. “Guess who's back?”

“Is Germany busy again?” France asked.

“You can't even imagine how! I saw that he was about to crumble to pieces under the workload, so I graciously offered to take half of it off his shoulders. You should have seen how grateful he was. Cried like a baby.” 

“Are you saying what I think you're saying?” Netherlands asked with one lifted brow.

Prussia laughed. “Yup! It sucks that I have to give up my glamorous life and get back to work, but that's what awesome guys do when their kid brother is in trouble.”

“At least there'll be more distractions during meetings now,” France said.

“Yeah, I bet everyone will be so busy staring at my handsome face that they can't get any work done.”

Prussia didn't hear what Netherlands' come-back was because that was when he spotted Romano some distance away, grumbling something to his brother who was frantically going through a stack of notes, seemingly having lost some important pages.

“Goddammit, do you have to screw up before this fucking thing even starts?” Romano snarled, snatched the papers from Italy's hands and began to browse through them himself. He didn't seem to have noticed Prussia's presence yet because the annoyance on his face was within normal levels.

Prussia felt a hand on his shoulder, and then France was suddenly leaning closer, a knowing smile on his face.

“What?” Prussia asked.

“I see someone's mind is on something else entirely than this meeting.”

“I have no idea about what you're talking about.”

France let go of him and shoved his hands into his pockets, that infuriating sparkle never leaving his eyes. As he glanced at the others, Prussia realised that there was clearly something that everyone else but he knew.

“Last weekend,” Spain filled in helpfully. “We all know you spent it with Romano. No need to hide that, unless you –”

“Wait, what?”

Prussia hadn't meant to be so loud, but now everyone near him had turned to look at him, Romano included. He suddenly felt like he was in the middle of a minefield and had lost his map and that one wrong move would send his limbs flying to every direction.

“You were in Rome for the weekend, so it's safe to assume you were with Romano. I had no idea you two were that close,” France said. “And I'm hurt you didn't tell me. I thought we were friends, you fiend!”

How did everyone know where he had been? Had Romano told them and complained about him? But no, that couldn't be. One look at his face told Prussia that he was equally surprised and even more horrified by this turn of events. The angry shade of red that was rapidly climbing to his cheeks and the way the hands holding the papers were trembling were a clear indicator that there would be an explosion soon.

“I didn't tell anyone where I was!” he said loudly so that Romano would know this wasn't his fault.

“But a picture says more than a thousand words,” Netherlands pointed out. He grabbed his phone, spent a moment sliding his finger over the touch screen and then showed it to Prussia. What he found himself looking at was his own blog. More specifically, it was the photo he had taken of himself in the park.

“Looks like you forgot that your blog's settings automatically show the location where you make your posts,” France said, voice laced with smug amusement. If this had happened to anyone else, Prussia would have laughed right alongside him, but all he could feel now was something akin to the moments right before they had announced what would happen to him in 1947.

Fuck. He was so dead.

Italy came over to take a look at the photo. 

“Wow, this is such a nice picture! Romano, why didn't you tell me Prussia was over?”

“He... What.. Dammit...” was all that came out of Romano's mouth. 

Prussia realised that if he didn't do something soon, the whole world would think that there was something going on between them. Once such rumours started, it would be hard to make them die. And more importantly, Romano would hate him for a long time if his oversight made everyone think they were sleeping together.

“Guys, guys,” he said with the most self-confident laugh he could manage. “You're so wrong about this. Sure, I was in Rome, but not why you think. See, me and Romano, we... Well, it really sucks that I have to reveal it now when Italy is here, but we're organizing a surprise party for him and West.”

“A party?” France repeated.

“Yeah, because they've been working so hard lately. We figured they need something fun to relax. Everyone's invited! It's going to be awesome!”

“That sounds great!” Spain said and came to pat him on the back. “Everyone's been pretty stressed out lately. It would be great to relax, and I guess you two are the best to organize it since you don't have to work as much as the rest of us.”

“That's exactly what we thought! But look, I guess the meeting's starting. Let's get to our places before West loses it,” Prussia said. He gave Spain a push towards the conference table, and soon enough he had got everyone moving.

He was just about to go to his seat when he felt someone grab his arm.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Romano growled under his breath.

“Hey, I just saved the situation. You should be grateful. Without me, everyone would think we had a hot, sweaty weekend in Rome,” Prussia whispered.

Romano's death glare didn't falter. “Yeah, but now we're going to have to organize that stupid party! As if I don't have enough to do already!”

“Relax, that's going to be a piece of cake. You can feed everyone your week-old lasagne scraps since they're so good.”

“And what will you do?”

“I'll clean your house. I'm really good at it and –”

“Everyone get to your seats! We're already three minutes behind schedule!”

Prussia and Romano both yelped at Germany's booming voice and jumped back, though Prussia would later deny it. They often had disagreements at home, but it was a while since he had last seen Germany that strict and angry.

He learned from the best, he thought happily and slid into his seat.

Nothing of interest happened during the first half of the meeting. Since Prussia had nothing to present, he entertained himself with doodling chicks into his notebook. He wrote his first official memo in two decades, detailing how he was going to buy a tablet computer now that he was back to work. Occasionally he tuned in to listen to what the others were saying, but he guessed he was a little out of the loop since most of it didn't make much sense to him.

The sad thing about the seating arrangements was that he and Romano were sitting on the same side of the table, so he couldn't keep stealing glances at him. He did try dropping his pen three times so that he'd get an excuse to bend down and catch a glimpse of Romano's legs, but that wasn't very satisfactory when he was wearing trousers.

With an unhappy frown, he settled with trying to get at least the main points of everyone's presentation and ideas. Germany just might surprise him with a pop quiz later, and the last thing he wanted was to fail before he had even started his work.

His second memo described five ways he was going to try to convince Germany to let him draw up the military budget. He was just getting to the sixth when Belgium announced that it was time for lunch and that they should all be back within an hour.

Prussia knew he had to be quick if he wanted to fulfil one of his goals for the day. He glanced at Germany to make sure he was busy talking to Belgium about the schedule for the rest of the day and then searched the room to find Italy before he'd attach himself to anyone.

“Hey, can I steal him just for a moment?” he asked when he noticed Italy and Japan leaving the room.

“Oh, Prussia. We were just about to go and have lunch. Do you want to come, too?” Italy asked.

“Thanks, maybe later, but I'd really like to talk to you about something first. You think you can give me five minutes?”

“Sure, I'd love to help if there's anything I can do! Is this about the party? If you want to know my favourite snacks, I bet Romano could tell you!”

“I will go ahead and wait for you outside,” Japan said.

“Okay, so what do you need?” Italy asked. The way he was smiling made it very tempting to just grab him, run away and have lunch with him alone.

But no, he couldn't allow himself to be distracted by that cute face. He was on big brother duty.

“Listen, Ita-cakes. I don't know what exactly you told West last weekend, but it really got under his skin. So, in the future, could you... I don't know, not talk about death or stuff like that with him? He's got enough things to worry about already,” he said.

Italy frowned in alert. “Is Germany upset by what I said? I'm sorry! I didn't mean that! I wouldn't have told him about my arrangement with Romano if I had known he'd be sad!”

“Hey, it's okay,” Prussia hurried to say, hoping that Italy wouldn't start crying and cause a scene. “I know you didn't mean anything, but there's no point in getting West all worked up when there's nothing wrong with me. He's been so annoying to live with for the past few days that you wouldn't believe.”

“I'm sorry! I would have never done that if Romano hadn't pestered me about it so much.”

“What, Romano?”

“Yeah, he just kept telling me what a horrible brother Germany is because he hoarded everything for himself and left you nothing, and I tried to tell him that it's not like that and Germany is really nice, but he wouldn't listen. Then I thought that maybe if I talked to Germany about it, he would do something and maybe he and Romano could start to get along.”

Prussia couldn't help but grimace in irritation at how everyone around him was suddenly taking measures to protect him when he didn't need it. If they were that worried about him, how difficult was it to ask if he was okay and if he wanted something to do? It wasn't fair that everyone was suddenly plotting behind his back, like he was some frail old man whose brain had rotted to the point that he could no longer make his own decisions.

“Eek, now you're angry at me! You look scary!” Italy yelped and took a step back.

“Wait, wait, no, I'm not angry! I'm just... surprised, yeah.”

Italy relaxed at once, and the smile was quick to return to his face. “Oh, that's good. Then everything's okay. Please don't be mad at Germany or Romano either.”

“Can't promise,” Prussia said, but he did his best to grin so that Italy wouldn't be alarmed.

“Anyway, do you want to have lunch with me and Japan?”

“Thanks, but I've got other plans.”

“Okay, see you later!”

Prussia shoved his hands into his pockets as he watched Italy hurry outside. He figured he would be having lunch alone today, and for once he was doing it voluntarily. There were a few things he needed to think about.

He went out to buy a sandwich and made his way back to the conference building because it was unlikely he'd run into anyone there. Once he found a comfortable corner for himself, he sat down and began to mull over what Italy had just told him.

He was honestly surprised to hear this whole issue had started with Romano. If he had kept bringing it up so often that Italy had seen no choice but to take the matter to Germany, it had to mean that he was pretty worried about him, too. 

Prussia couldn't decide how he felt about that. It was nice that someone was thinking about him and wanted him to keep existing, especially since it was Romano. But he didn't like how nobody had come to face him about this. If Romano was worried about him, all he had to do was call him. They were both living in the shadow of their younger brothers, so it shouldn't have been that difficult to strike up a conversation about it. And then there was Germany who had just decided that he needed to start looking after the eastern half of the country again.

“I'll do this until the Euro crisis is over. Then _I'll_ decide if I want to keep at it. I'm not some fucking charity organization,” he muttered as he kept feeding crumbs to Gilbird.

There was another point to consider as well. The two matters weren't at all the same, but maybe he should reconsider his whole attempt at winning Romano over. He should stop coming up with elaborate schemes behind his back and trying to manipulate the situation to his favour. Hell, Romano had told him to stay away from him. At least that was honest communication. Maybe he should just respect that and let things stay platonic between them.

The idea filled him with some sense of disappointment, but he was sure he could get over it.

“Yeah, I'm going to scratch him off my conquest list,” he told to the bird. “That's what he said he wanted. I'm just going to make myself look desperate if I keep this up. Hell, it's not me who should do the chasing. People should be falling over themselves to impress _me!_ ”

He got an affectionate chirp from the bird and decided it was a sign of agreement, not happiness at being given another piece of bread.


	10. Chapter 10

Prussia wasn't expecting to run into anyone until the meeting was about to resume, so he was a little surprised when he stepped into the men's room and found Romano washing his hands. His first thought was that he should turn on his heels and leave to keep his promise to stay away. The second thought was that nobody pushed him around in a public place.

“Hey,” he said as he sauntered inside.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Romano asked.

“I came to pee. What about you?”

“Go to hell.”

Prussia spent a moment wondering if he should confront Romano about what Italy had told him, but he decided not to. He had the feeling that it would just lead into another fight. Besides, Romano had done all that before their kinky porn fiasco. Maybe he no longer cared whether he disappeared or not.

“We should decide what we're going to do about that party. Your brother is going to tell West about it, so if we don't organize it, he's going to think we're up to something and get bothersome,” he said.

“And how is that my problem? I don't live with him.”

“So maybe you'd rather let France draw his own conclusions and tell everyone about them.”

He saw Romano's shoulders stiffen at his words and almost felt like a dick. But then he reminded himself that Romano was being difficult on purpose even though they had agreed to forget all about the disastrous weekend and even though it was all thanks to his quick thinking that the rumours had died before getting off the ground.

“Fine, I'll throw some stupid party for my brother and the bastard. But I can do it alone. I don't need you,” Romano said.

“But they're expecting us to do it together!”

“Yeah, so?”

“So they'll get suspicious if you suddenly ditch me. And how are you going to get the best beer and sausages for West without my help? Don't tell me you'd make a shopping trip to Germany.”

Romano shot him a glare from under his brows. “If my food isn't good enough for him, he can fucking starve.”

“Aww, come on. If I bring some of our stuff, you won't have to cook so much. And I meant it that I'll clean for you. I'm great at being domestic! I always clean the bathroom at home because West knows I do it the best!”

“That's not something to be proud of, idiot!” Romano snapped. He turned around to grab a paper towel, hid his face and pretended to be wiping it, but Prussia caught a glimpse of his lips tugging upwards before he could cover them.

Heh, cute.

“Hey, it's not all I can do! It's just the beginning of my skills. You won't believe how good I am at scrubbing burnt food off the stove.”

“Like I'd need that. Unlike some people, I know how to cook right.”

“You never know. You could get distracted by something when the pasta is boiling. Like –”

Like my awesome body, Prussia thought. If they started making out while Romano was cooking, the whole house would burn down because Prussia had so much stamina and could make it last long. 

Damn, this whole backing off deal was more difficult than he had thought. But he could endure it and emerge victorious.

“Like... Like the TV,” he finished.

Romano rewarded him with a snort. “I have a better attention span than that.”

“But something could always happen, and if I'm not there to save the situation, what are you going to do? It takes a few hours to fly from Germany to Italy, so the stuff could get stuck to the stove.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Romano crumbled the paper towel into a ball and tossed it into the trash can. “Like anyone would fly to another country to scrub a stove!”

“I would if you asked me.”

“Y-yeah right. Then you're a total moron.”

Romano forced his way past him to the exit, stepped out and slammed the door shut behind him. Prussia shrugged and tried to quench the desire to go after him. He had given up on this. He didn't care what Romano thought of him anymore.

“Wait here while I go and show my awesomeness to the toilet,” he said to Gilbird and placed it on top of the tap on the sink.

The meeting resumed without much of interest happening until it was Germany's turn to speak. He formally announced that Prussia would be assisting him from now on.

“Only because you wouldn't make it without me!” Prussia interrupted once he was starting to feel too uncomfortable with the glances he was getting from the others. Austria's eyes in particular made his blood boil, and he wished someone would start a fight so that he'd get an excuse to knock his glasses off his face.

That fop probably thought Germany was just taking pity on him and throwing him a bone. That he was a wreck and couldn't stand on his own two feet without his kid brother offering his shoulder to him. Fuck that. He didn't need this job! He didn't have to be here, and someone who had wet dreams about a threesome with Chopin and Mozart had no right to look at him like that.

He wished he could have seen Romano's face during Germany's speech. How did he feel about this? Was he relieved that his plan had worked? Or did he regret it now that they were on even worse terms than before?

I should tell that hypocrite I know what he did, he mused. Romano had a lot nerve being angry at him for reading the stories when he was trying to rearrange his life behind his back. At least the whole porn fiasco was just between the two of them and could be easily forgotten, but this getting back to work thing was making him feel like a loser in front of everyone.

At first Prussia was happy when the meeting ended, but that feeling swiftly changed when he noticed Austria approaching him as everyone was preparing to leave. He suspected he wouldn't like whatever he had to say, so he shoved his hands into his pockets and plastered a wide grin on his face to make it obvious that he didn't give a fuck.

“What's up, Specs? Want to copy my notes since they're so much better than yours?”

“I'd rather not spend hours trying to decipher your handwriting, especially since it seems to have only got worse over the years.”

“Yeah, well, that's because I can't be bothered to use pen and paper that much anymore. All real men type!” Prussia took his notes and shoved them inside his folder, wishing that he had a suitcase like all the others. That made them look so much more official than him.

“I know how to type,” Austria said with a hint of irritation in his voice. It was probably true, Prussia supposed. If his fingers could fly on the piano keys, he shouldn't have any trouble being a master typist. But not as good as him.

“Yeah, whatever. But I'm really busy with all my new responsibilities, so unless you came to tell me that you've finally come to your senses and realised I'm stronger, beat it.”

“That is actually what I came to talk about.”

“What, so you really –”

“No,” Austria cut him off, frowning. “I want to congratulate you on your new position.”

So that was the kind of game he was playing. Prussia clutched the folder in his fingers and felt a nearly irresistible urge to kick Austria to the ground and twist his arms behind his back. Like the good old times.

“Oh, so you came to worm your way into my favour because you know it's only the matter of time until I take over all of Europe. Good thinking, but don't bother. I don't like your face, so you can't be on my side,” he said.

Austria sighed. “There's no need for you to be that hostile. I meant what I said. The international relations between us have not always been the best, but there's little point in letting it continue today. Unless you absolutely insist on remaining as primitive as you've always been and not learning anything new even after all these centuries.”

“I don't need your congratulations,” Prussia said. Damn, he hated Austria so much when he was being condescending without being condescending. There was no way he could be sincere. He was just here to rub it to his face that he still had his name on the map. He had to be.

“Well, I thought –”

“Especially since I'm not planning to keep this job. I'm just helping West, but after that I'll quit. So you losers can all stop looking at me like I just got up from my deathbed. I'm not the one who needs this. West is. I was just fine before!”

Austria blinked in surprise, and for a moment Prussia was sure his outburst had stunned him into silence. Hah, served that fop right. Maybe now he'd finally get a clue and leave him alone.

“I didn't mean to imply that. Of course you're fine. I merely thought you would see this development as a good opportunity to increase your influence,” Austria said.

“Really funny,” Prussia growled. Austria knew perfectly well he had no influence whatsoever anymore. He could never get Germany to cook what he wanted for dinner. Hell, even the dogs didn't always listen to him.

“I don't understand you, but that's hardly anything new. I suppose I should have known you'd be immature about this. Good luck with your new endeavours, and I hope you won't leave Germany in ruins.”

“The only thing you should be worried about is your own pathetic spot of land. One day I'll have an army again, and your house will be the first place I'll burn to the ground.”

“I'd very much like to see you try.”

As far as Prussia was concerned, the conversation was over, but he refused to be the first one to announce that because it would look like he was running away. So, for once he was glad when Germany came to ruin the fun and told him that they had to go if they didn't want to miss their flight back home.

“You should stop picking fights with Austria,” Germany said a moment later as they were getting into a taxi.

“He's the one who came to pick a fight with me!”

“He was just trying to be polite.”

“Yeah, right! He came to make fun of me!”

“He has no reason to make fun of you.”

“I know that! He's a total loser! But he thinks he's so much better than me just because he's still got that stupid speck of land that sucks so much that nobody wanted to take it away from him.”

Germany sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “Austria doesn't think he's better than you,” he finally said.

“You're giving him too much credit, West. He's not clever enough to figure out that it's me who's better.”

“I'm too tired to have this conversation with you right now,” Germany said.

“Which means you give up, so I'm right.”

They sat in silence for a while, Prussia sulking as he stared out the window. It hadn't been the best day of his life. First there were people pulling the strings and trying to control his life, then Romano didn't want his help with the party even though he was being a total gentleman and hadn't tried to hit on him in the bathroom, and then Austria had come to smear the icing on the Sachertorte of suck that had been this day.

And the idiots wonder why I'm not crying in joy for getting this job, he thought grumpily.

“Italy told me about your plans with Romano,” Germany said after a while.

“Oh, that. It's probably going to be just Romano's plans because he was in such a pissy mood all day. He kicked me out of the project. Doesn't know what he's losing.”

“I'm surprised you two were able to get along long enough to come up with that idea in the first place.”

“And what's that supposed to mean? We have a lot in common! But I bet you've been so busy sucking Italy's face that you never noticed.”

“What is it with you today?” Germany asked, his voice raising in anger. “I thought you'd be glad to participate in the meeting, but you're causing even more trouble than usual.”

“That you have to ask shows that you wouldn't get it,” Prussia replied. He was about to say more, but then he realised that this was exactly what Romano had told him when he had asked why they couldn't spend the day together in Rome. At the time, he had just thought that Romano was being difficult on purpose, but maybe there was something in what he had said or done that had left him just as frustrated as he now was with Germany.

I just don't get Italians, he thought. But if he could figure out what it was that was bothering Romano, maybe –

No, no. He had solemnly sworn that he'd give it up. It was a matter of pride and strength of character now. He had to stop thinking about Romano that way, no matter how well he still remembered the turns of phrases he had used when –

Oh, just fuck it.

***

When Prussia got down to his room in the basement and turned on his computer, he saw that there was an e-mail for him. That itself wasn't unusual since his blog got a decent amount of traffic and he had subscribed to numerous newsletters. It wasn't even the subject line, proudly spelling the words _OKAY BASTARD!!_ in all caps because he got quite a lot of e-mails like that. No, it was the sender's e-mail that made him stop for a moment.

lovino.vargas@comune.roma.it

“Maybe he's not yet done complaining,” Prussia muttered to his bird as he clicked to read the e-mail.

_Fuck you, you stupid idiot! My flight is late so all I can do is think about how you ruined my day with your face today! I've decided that there's no fucking way I'm doing everything with that party because it was your idea, so you're going to do half of the work whether you like it or not!_

Prussia was still digesting this bit of information as he returned to his inbox, only to see that among the other messages was yet another e-mail from Romano, this one timed a minute after the first one.

_Oh and I had to waste an eternity on your lame blog and look for this e-mail because I do NOT have it saved! Go to hell!_

Prussia leaned his chin on his hand as he went back to read the first e-mail. Even though this was what he had wanted, he couldn't really bring himself to be happy about it. Maybe he was just in a bad mood, but right now he didn't want anyone to take that tone with him.

“I'll show him,” he muttered and began to type a reply.

_Wow you actually came around and realized that you could NEVER organize a good party without the awesome me!! I guess Ill give you points for that but atm I dont know if I feel like helping you out anymore. Im a popular guy and my schedule is pretty full._

_PS: Fuck you too!_

“There, I bet you ten Euros that in his next message, he'll be begging me to help him,” Prussia said to Gilbird as he got up and went upstairs to the kitchen to grab a beer. He let out a satisfied sigh after the first heavenly gulp and thought for the thousandth time that immortality would have been hell without good beer.

He decided to check if there was anything on TV while he savoured the bottle and plopped down on the couch. Germany's dogs immediately joined him and curled up against him, having learned that it was okay to jump on the couch if Prussia was around.

He spent some twenty minutes watching some stupid candid camera show. Together with the beer, it did wonders at soothing his irritated mood, and by the time he decided to go back to the basement, he was kind of feeling sorry about what he had written to Romano.

When he logged in to check his e-mail, there was only an ad from eBay. 

“Huh, guess he hasn't had time to reply yet,” he mused.

He thought about killing some time by playing any of his games, but then he figured that maybe he should look into some files about how the economy in the eastern states was doing. He'd have to do that anyway at some point, so better get started.

He'd begin with Brandenburg. It had always had a special place in his heart.

After a quick trip to Germany's study to get the necessary files, he was ready to start working. But first he checked his e-mail one more time to see if Romano had replied. He hadn't.

He just wants to make me wait, he thought before clicking away to bury himself into Brandenburg's unemployment rates. It turned out the state was doing a little better than he had expected, so it crossed his mind that he should switch to something else to make it more of a challenge. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, maybe.

A few hours later he decided that he had had enough for the first day, especially since it was getting late and he was tired from the meeting in Brussels. He closed the files and went once again to check his inbox. 

This time there was finally a reply from Romano. Prussia clicked on it eagerly.

_FINE THEN DON'T HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

If Prussia had been anyone else, he might have given up at this point and stopped trying, but thankfully he had plenty of experience with flame wars and knew how people went overboard when they were communicating online. On the other hand, this was Romano, and he could imagine him throwing a similar tantrum if their exchange had been face to face. 

“Time for someone to show him that he can't just hurl shit at people and not expect to get any in return,” he commented to the bird as he began to type a reply.

 _Ok calm down over there. I was kidding. Sure Ill help you. But just so you know your first message to me was a lot ruder than what I ever said to you and you dont see me throwing a fit. If you dont want people to treat you like you have a permanent attitude problem how about you try being nice to them??_

He had to wait nearly half an hour before there was another reply.

_Yeah, like I'm going to take advice from a loser like you. But whatever, I'll let you help with the party since you're so desperate._

Prussia decided to be the mature one and not continue the argument, but he made a mental note to bring up the issue once they met the next time. He wrote a reply and suggested some ideas for the party, but Romano's next message told him that he didn't want to talk about it over e-mail because he hated computers. Everyone would go to another meeting after the weekend, so they would discuss the matter there.

That was better than nothing, Prussia supposed as he leaned back on his chair. Still, he wondered why Romano had to be in such a bad mood all the time, or least always when he was talking to him. Why couldn't he be happy like that morning when he had spotted him in Rome? What did it take to get such a genuine smile out of him?


	11. Chapter 11

Prussia knew that many of the others had the impression that he always came late everywhere, either because he didn't care or because he forgot about the time. But that wasn't true. He was punctuality personified when he had to be somewhere. It was just that he hadn't had any important appointments lately.

“Hah, before Austria!” he announced when he entered the meeting room. It was nearly empty; apart from him and Germany, only Netherlands and Finland were present.

“He's not late. As always, we're early,” Netherlands pointed out.

“Yeah, but I still got here before him!”

He walked around the table to find his seat and was glad to notice that not only was it on the opposite side to Romano's but that it was close to the entrance. Prussia sat down the wrong way around so that he was leaning his chin on the backrest and watching the doors like a hawk. Romano couldn't come inside without walking past him.

As the time for the meeting to start drew closer, more and more nations began to drift inside. Prussia waved hello to France who came over to exchange a few words and lament on the fact that he was once again sitting next to Germany which prevented him from any shenanigans during the meeting.

“You should be next to him. You represent the same country. Italy and Romano always sit together, too,” France said, shaking his head. “Sometimes I have the feeling that Germany just likes keeping an eye on me, but not the way I'd prefer.”

“Maybe he thinks you aren't working hard enough,” Prussia suggested.

“Oh, please. Wipe that smug grin off your face. I work really hard, much harder than so many others! But as usual, I don't get any recognition for it.”

“Then work harder.”

France shot him an offended glare. “And I suppose you have something to contribute today?”

“Plenty of stuff! You'll all be blown away!”

Germany had suggested that Prussia should speak for them in today's meeting. Prussia suspected it was his attempt to keep him in a good mood so that they wouldn't repeat the fighting from the previous time, but he didn't mind. He actually had something to say after spending the weekend catching up on the country's situation, so it didn't feel like he was being given an opportunity out of pity.

“Anyway, what are you doing after the meeting?” he asked. This was another two-day conference, so there was the opportunity to go drinking afterwards. They were back in Brussels, which Prussia didn't consider the most exciting city in the world, but at least the beer was good.

“I don't know. I guess it depends on how busy Spain will be with our hostess, if you catch my drift,” France replied.

“Oh, right, those two. Cute, huh? I caught them coming from a romantic walk once. You figure they're ready to stop playing around like little kids and let everyone know already?”

“You can't hurry love,” France said with a happy sigh. “Then again, what would you know?”

Prussia frowned in irritation. “And what's that supposed to mean? I'm the master of love!”

“Oh, really? When was the last time you were in a relationship that lasted longer than half a week?”

Okay, so it had been a while. At least a century or two in fact, but that didn't prove anything! What did time mean to those who were immortal? 

“Quality, not quantity,” he said. When he got into a serious relationship, he _really_ got into it. It was so awesome and intense that it was for the best to have a small break between them or he'd wear himself out. Yeah. 

France smiled. “If you know what you're doing, there's no reason you can't have both.”

“Yeah, well –” Prussia started, but that was when he noticed Italy and Romano enter the room. “Hey, Romano! Come over here!” he called out. 

Romano froze where he was and cast a nearly panicked look around, but after a moment of hesitation he marched over to him, fists clenched and a suspicious frown already decorating his features.

“What do you want, bastard?”

“Why that tone? Didn't we agree we'd talk about the party today?”

“Yeah, but... But I'm not in the mood right now!”

“At lunch, then.”

“It depends on if I can build up enough resistance to your idiocy before that!”

And with that, Romano stormed away to his seat where Italy instantly caught his arm and began to talk to him excitedly about something. Prussia sighed and shook his head at the sight.

“I think he really hates me,” he said.

“He's like that to everyone,” France remarked.

“He didn't cuss you out.”

“I didn't say anything to him.”

“Yeah, but sometimes I get the feeling that the fact that I exist is enough to piss him off.”

France let out a hum and turned his eyes to where Romano had told his brother to shut up and was now reading his papers with such an angry scowl on his face that most nations would be afraid to approach him. For a moment Prussia was sure that a thoughtful look crossed France's eyes, but it was quickly gone and replaced by amusement.

“Believe me, my friend, we all feel that way about you sometimes,” France said.

“Ha ha, you're so funny today. Don't waste these hilarious thoughts on me. Save them for later. You know, when you'll be sitting next to my brother, dying of boredom and wishing that I would spare a minute of my valuable time and take you out for drinks tonight!”

“Can I take that as a promise?”

“Sure,” Prussia said. He very much doubted he'd be going out with Romano that night, even as friends. France at least was always happy to hang out with him, and if they could pry Spain away from Belgium's arms, maybe they'd end up having a blast. It was a while since last time.

“Good, but I think I should report to my seat now because Germany is starting to look angry,” France said.

Prussia figured it was time he turned the right way on his chair and started to get shit done. He had managed to convince Germany that getting a tablet computer would really improve his note-taking skills, so now he had one. And unlike his mistrusting brother had assumed, he had so far done more with it than downloaded it full of music.

The first half of the meeting was filled with speeches and presentations from various nations, and Prussia discovered that the computer was actually helping. He could write so much faster with it that even though his notes were a lot better, he still had plenty of extra time.

I guess Romano really does hate computers, he thought as his eyes drifted to his direction. Romano was sticking to traditional pen and paper and was scribbling something down with a concentrated frown on his face.

Prussia remembered what had happened the last time he had been in this situation and watched Romano write, but this time he had no trouble keeping his thoughts clean. In fact, all he really felt like doing right now was watching Romano and admiring the way his nose wrinkled every time his ballpoint pen was giving him trouble. Even from on the other side of the table, he was pretty sure he could see his lips move as he muttered curses to himself.

Italy suddenly looked up from his work and noticed him staring their way. He waved, and Prussia realised that he had been lost in thought for longer than he had meant to. Even worse, Italy was now poking Romano on the arm and pointing to Prussia's direction, no doubt telling him that he had been watching them.

Great, Prussia thought as Romano sent him a death glare. Maybe he should just concentrate on the meeting for now if he wanted to have lunch with Romano and talk about the party.

Why was he putting up with this, though? Anyone would be happy to have lunch with him. Heck, if he stood up now and said that he would be giving one person the privilege of taking him out to eat, everyone's wallet would be out in a heartbeat. So, why was he subjecting himself to constant verbal abuse from someone who clearly hated his guts?

He did say I'm hot, he mused. Then again, that was like saying the sky was blue. It was just a fact. He guessed it was possible to pine for his amazing body but not be able to appreciate his equally great personality. That was certainly the case with Hungary.

By the time Belgium announced a lunch break, Prussia hadn't managed to come up with a satisfactory answer to his dilemma. Maybe he was in the process of discovering his masochist side.

He glanced at Romano who was still standing by his seat, his eyes fixed on his notes as he kept going through them. He organized the sheets of paper into a neat pile and put it on the table. Then he picked it up and began to read the first sheet again, as if he had forgotten something.

By now, almost everyone else had already left the conference room. Prussia spent a moment watching Romano's fidgeting and wondering what he was doing. There was no reason to keep looking at the papers, so why couldn't he just put them down and go?

“Hey, are you waiting for me or what?” he asked.

“No! I'm organizing these so that I don't have to do it when I get back!”

“Sure,” Prussia said, his grin widening. “You're so waiting for me. Why wouldn't you be since –”

“Finish that by claiming that you're awesome and you're going to have to eat your lunch with a straw, bastard!”

“Actually I was just going to say that we had an agreement so of course you'd wait, but now that you brought it up –”

Romano slammed his notes on the table to cut him off, an angry shade of red already on his cheeks. “Let's just go already! I'm hungry!”

Prussia decided to use a cunning strategy and keep his mouth shut until they had found their way into a small restaurant near the conference building, sat down on their seats and ordered. He figured that he now had Romano in such a position that an immediate retreat would be impossible.

“Before we do anything else, I've got something to say,” he announced.

Romano didn't even look up from the menu. He refused to put it down even though their orders were already on the way, as if he didn't feel comfortable without something that allowed him to hide from him. 

“Yeah, what?”

“You're going to stop treating me like shit starting now. I'm a patient guy, but even I have my limits. Considering how popular I am, there's no reason for me to hang out with someone who just cusses me out and insults everything I do.”

“Then be my guest and get the fuck out of here if you don't like me.”

“It's not that!” Prussia said in exasperation. “I like you, okay? But I don't like the way you talk to me because I don't think I deserve it. Bite my head off if I fuck up somehow, but I've been on my best behaviour lately. So, what gives?”

Romano kept his eyes glued to the menu, and Prussia was sure that the conversation wouldn't go anywhere. It didn't surprise him. From what he had figured, Romano wasn't one to give in easily or admit that he was wrong. Normally he liked that in people, but now that he was on the receiving end of it, it only frustrated him.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh and stood up. “Have a nice lunch. I've got better things to do than stay here and get the cold shoulder.”

“Where the hell do you think you're going? It's too late to go to another restaurant. Your order wouldn't come before it was time to be back at the meeting,” Romano said.

“I've skipped lunch before. I can manage.”

Prussia couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as he stepped out of the restaurant. He had been hoping that threatening to leave would make Romano pause and think about his shitty behaviour, maybe even prompt him to come after him. But no, even though he lingered at the door for a moment, Romano never came.

“Self-centred asshole,” he muttered and began walking back towards the conference building. He had done his best. He had tried to be reasonable, even to the point that was unusual for him. He had been nice even though it was Romano who should have been grovelling on the ground and begging to be let into his company, but he had his limits. If Romano wanted to be this stubborn, that was his problem. 

He he entered the meeting room, only to discover that he was the first one back. One glance at his cellphone revealed why; there were still some forty minutes before the meeting would resume. It was long enough to grow bored out of his mind, but as Romano had said, he no longer had the time to go to another restaurant.

“Let's see what games this thing has,” he said and whipped out his tablet computer.

Minesweeper was a game that he both loved and hated at the same time. He had been born to fight and had always felt the most alive in the battlefield, surrounded by sounds of gunfire, screams and with the heartbeat of his men in his ears. Just sitting there and trying to calculate the locations of those fucking mines frustrated him to no end, and he often ended up just clicking at random and losing.

After that he always felt disappointed in himself because he could imagine his Fritz shaking his head at him and remarking that only a fool rushed into battle without strategy. Then he would always have to restart the game and win it, just to prove that he could do it. The sense of satisfaction he got from it was often enough to make his day.

This was what he was in the middle of doing, so he didn't notice anyone else enter the room until a paper bag was tossed on the table before him. Startled, he looked up from the game and saw that Romano was standing only a few feet from him, looking irritated and holding a second paper bag in his hand.

“What's this?” Prussia asked and poked at the bag.

“It's your fucking lunch!”

Prussia took a peek inside the bag and saw the potatoes, sausage and red cabbage he had ordered, all in a nice mess. They still felt warm, so he figured Romano had come after him as soon as their orders had arrived. The second bag probably contained his lunch.

“You actually asked for a doggy bag for my lunch?”

Romano snorted like he had just said something stupid. “Yeah, like I was just going to leave it there after you left me to pay for it. You're going to eat it, and then you'll pay me back, dammit.”

“You didn't have to. I told you I can live with a skipped lunch. It's nothing to someone like me!”

“Hah, as if! I remember how much you whined when dinner was two hours late last time you stayed at Veneziano's place. So for the sake of everyone here, eat that!”

Prussia took note of the shade of Romano's face, and at first he was sure that the dark red on his cheeks was because he was angry again, but then he realised that Romano wasn't even looking at him as he spoke. When he was angry, there was no escaping from his death glare.

Maybe this was Romano's way of apologizing. Maybe he didn't know how else to do it. Prussia knew all too well how difficult it was to apologize and admit that he had fucked up, and whenever he could, he tried to get around it by doing something nice to the person he had wronged. It was a lot easier than saying he was sorry.

“Well, thanks,” he said. “Did you bring a fork or anything?”

“It's not like I could just make off with the silverware.”

“Fingers, then. No problem!”

Prussia dug a potato out of the bag and bit into it, ignoring the disgusted glare that Romano sent to his direction. At first he thought the problem was that he was eating with his fingers, but it didn't take long before Romano found a tomato slice and some pasta in his bag and popped them into his mouth. It was probably just that he was eating a potato.

“I talk to everybody like that,” Romano mumbled after a while, making Prussia stop wondering if he wanted to eat the cabbage so bad that it was worth getting stains on his suit and looking disorderly when it was his turn to speak.

“Huh?”

“So don't think you're somehow fucking special! But... if you... if you have such a thin skin that you can't take it, then I guess...I could try to tone it down. But only because you're such a pathetic loser!”

“You already failed,” Prussia pointed out and licked some grease off his fingers.

“Wha –” 

Romano's red and startled face was so amusing that Prussia couldn't help but laugh.

“This isn't funny!” Romano snapped.

“Sure it is! You just looked like I caught you doing something really embarrassing, like stuffing your face with potatoes when nobody is looking.”

“Like I'd ever do that!”

“Just wait until the party when you get to taste my oven potatoes. And hey, I just got a great idea! We should cut potatoes in half and put some of your cheese and tomatoes and stuff on them. The best of both countries!”

“That sounds absolutely disgusting, and I'm not letting you disgrace my cuisine like that!”

“Don't say it's bad before you've tried it. I mean, look. There are some sausage pieces in the pasta sauce you're eating right now. Don't try to deny it!”

“That's Belgium's sausage! It's totally different!”

“It's not _that_ different! You just have an attitude problem.”

“And for a good reason,” Romano said and turned his attention back to his bag of food.

“And what's that?”

Romano didn't reply, and Prussia decided that he didn't want to piss him off by bugging him for an answer. His reason was probably something stupid anyway, like that he got stomach ache from having to look at Germany's face.

He found that he liked having this kind of silly arguments with Romano, provided that he didn't poke at those few, secret weak spots that he had. There was something about seeing Romano get all flustered about insignificant topics that made him happy. It was probably that he was arguing with him in the first place. If he really hated him as much as he said he did, he would have left already, right?

“I have another great idea,” he announced.

“Yeah, right. What?”

“I'm going to pay you back for this dinner by buying you a drink tonight!”

“Do you think I'm stupid? Why would I ever go out with you?”

“Well, for one thing, the lunch break is almost over, and we still haven't even started discussing what we're going to do about the party. Let's continue it over drinks!”

Romano frowned and turned to glare at the table as he mulled it over, but Prussia took it as a good sign. At least he was thinking about it. If he had suggested this right after the fiasco in Rome, he would have said no right away. Maybe he wasn't angry anymore.

“I'll consider it,” Romano finally said. “But only if I have nothing better to do!”

“What could be better than going out with me? Especially when I'm buying?”

Romano rolled his eyes. “Can you even pay for them?”

“Sure I can!”

And that reminded him of the fact that he should bring it up that he didn't like people trying to organize his life behind his back. Or at the very least he would have to ask why Romano had done that. If he did it now, he'd probably just get his head bitten off, but maybe Romano would be a little more agreeable after some free wine.


	12. Chapter 12

Prussia thought his speech had been a complete success. Sure, some idiots had started criticizing his calculations even before he had finished presenting them, but that just showed how pathetic they were in comparison. Losers like Austria and Netherlands had so little skill that of course they couldn't picture anyone turning the eastern half of Germany into Europe's new economical centre within a year, but he'd show everyone!

“I wish you had run those those numbers by me before you showed them to everybody,” Germany said as they were on their way to their hotel after the meeting.

“Why? Don't tell me even my own brother doubts me!”

“I don't doubt you, but you should be a little more realistic with your promises.”

“You think I should have said I need two years to do it?”

“I think that we need to work together on these presentations because we both represent this country.”

“For now,” Prussia pointed out. “Don't forget that this is a part-time job for me. After I've fixed everything, then you can steer your country any way you like again.”

Because it was Germany's country. Even if a part of him secretly wished otherwise, he couldn't deny that nothing about representing the eastern states felt right. It was like trying to walk around in boots that were a few sizes too big or fighting with a sword that wasn't balanced right.

He supposed he should have been glad for that. If it had been that easy to snatch half of his brother's lands and people away, he would have had reason to worry about Germany.

Germany spent a moment rubbing his eyes. “Do you mind if I change your calculations into something a little more plausible?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess it'll leave a more lasting impression if I surprise everyone by doing even better than our official plans say. Great strategy, West! But don't tell me you'll do it tonight. I mean, aren't you going out with Italy?”

“I have work to do.”

“Hey! Your job is making sure your boyfriend has a great time! I promise I'll keep Romano distracted, so you and Italy can do whatever you want.”

“Don't bother him. He always takes it out on me,” Germany said.

“I didn't know you were so afraid of him. But don't worry, I asked him out and he said yes. We're going to talk about that party we're throwing for you. It'll be a blast!”

“I thought you were going out with France tonight. I'm sure he mentioned it,” Germany said as they arrived at the hotel and stepped inside.

“Oh, right. Damn, I'm so popular that I just can't keep things straight.” 

Well, France would just have to step aside. Prussia was sure he'd understand. He momentarily considered inviting France and Spain to join them, but he decided that he was going to be selfish. He wanted Romano just for himself tonight, especially since he was planning to get him talking about why he had helped get this job for him.

He and Germany had spent a long time debating whether they were going to get separate hotel rooms or share one. Prussia hadn't wanted to share because he couldn't throw a party in the room if Germany was there, but it was a while since he had shared a room with him. It might be fun, like old times. Germany, on the other hand, hadn't wanted to share because he knew Prussia might throw a party, but he had said that in this economical situation, they should be an example to the others and save money by not getting two separate rooms. 

Prussia didn't think it really mattered. The only other country that was being represented by two people was Italy, and those two always shared a room anyway. In any case, they had ended up getting just one room after Prussia had promised not to invite anyone over in the middle of the night and Germany had sworn he wouldn't complain about Prussia eating snacks in bed.

He fell on his bed and took out his phone to let France know that there had been a change of plans. It didn't take long before he got a reply, which was an animated image of a red heart.

“If only,” Prussia muttered and sent back a text about how they were just going to plan the party. It wouldn't do that France thought he was going to pick Romano up because then he would think he had failed when he didn't brag about it the following day. Normally, he'd just make up some lies about his hot night with him, but Romano would hear about that, and then he wouldn't even be back in square one – he'd be kicked right off the game board.

He turned on his stomach and watched Germany who was sitting at the desk and was already working on something with his laptop. Prussia could understand efficiency; hell, there was a reason lots of people associated it with him. But there was being efficient and then there was obsession with work.

“West,” he called out. “Stop that. The European Union won't fall apart if you don't finish that today.”

“You never know. Have you seen Spain's unemployment rates? If things get really bad at his house, who knows what'll happen?”

Prussia let out a hum and thought it over. He was sure that a century or two ago, someone would have already picked up their weapons and marched across the border. At the very least they would have denounced the EU and tried something else, like a revolution.

“I miss the days when we argued about something other than numbers,” he said.

“Those numbers are people. We're still arguing about the same things as always, but at least this time the fight is confined within four walls.”

“That's exactly why this is boring.”

“I'll take boring over innocent victims,” Germany said, and Prussia was sure the sound of his typing had just grown angry. Better not push his buttons anymore, he figured.

“Anyway, I just told France I'm going out with Romano, so that means the coast is clear for you and Italy. You won't have to worry about his bitchy big brother stalking you and trying to spike your beer tonight. When was the last time you could do that, huh?”

Germany stopped typing for a moment and turned to look at him. He seemed tired, but there was a small, grateful smile playing on his lips. Prussia felt like the best brother in the world.

“Just don't do anything stupid,” Germany said.

“Like what?”

“Anything that you think would give me a headache if I heard about it in the morning.”

“Come on, that rules out almost everything!”

Germany returned his attention to his work, and Prussia figured he'd let him be. Knowing his brother, he wouldn't stop until he was done, so the more he bothered him, the less time he'd get to spend with Italy.

***

Prussia had agreed to meet Romano down in the lobby at eight. He got there first and spent some agonizing fifteen minutes thinking that Romano had changed his mind, but then he remembered that Germany was always complaining about Italy being late everywhere. It was probably an Italian thing.

“Finally! For a while there I thought you had chickened,” he said when Romano emerged from the elevator.

“I just had to do some thinking and ask myself if I'm really so bored that I'm going to subject myself to this.”

“So, you are?”

“No, but I'll come and get my free drinks and then ditch you.”

As he took a closer look at Romano, Prussia couldn't help but think that he was late because he had spent some extra time picking his clothes and doing his hair. Romano looked like he was going to perform at a fashion show. Maybe that was another Italian thing. 

“You can decide where we're going,” he said as they stepped out.

“Not anywhere near the hotel because I don't want anyone to see us together.”

“I think that would just make it more suspicious. Everyone would think we're trying to hide something,” Prussia pointed out.

Romano's lips pressed into an angry line, but he didn't say anything. He was marching down the street and hunching his shoulders like he was doing something criminal and didn't want anyone to recognise him. At the first bar they found, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, having apparently changed his mind about wanting to take distance to the others.

“Come on, why are you running? We've got plenty of time. Or are you just that eager to hang out with me?”

“I'm eager to get it over with,” Romano replied. He chose a table that was in the corner, away from the busiest parts of the bar. It had a perfect view to the counter and the entrance.

Prussia ordered them some beer and wine, careful to make sure that the latter was Italian so that Romano wouldn't throw a fit. He'd probably spit it out if it was French. As far as Prussia was concerned, wine tasted the same everywhere, but he supposed Romano's relationship with it was like his with beer.

After a moment of silence between them, he was about to make a comment about how Romano had promised to be nicer to him from now on, but then he noticed the way he was clutching his glass and glaring at the table. Prussia had long since learned that he wasn't always the best at reading other people's feelings, but he had a knack for detecting when someone was nervous. It had saved his ass on the battlefield countless times.

What the heck was Romano's problem this time? Was he scared of him? Prussia found that the thought left him with an uncomfortable, hollow feeling in his stomach. He liked it when his aura of power left everyone around him in awe, but he didn't actually want anyone to be afraid of him. Except maybe Russia, but the asshole deserved that.

“So, the party,” he said.

“Do we really have to go through with it?” Romano asked.

“Now that we've told everyone about it, yeah. Otherwise they're going to think we're losers.”

“Like that would be anything new in your case.”

“Are you always this bitchy when you're nervous?”

“I'm not fucking nervous!”

Prussia rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. You're almost shaking. What's your problem?”

Instead of answering, Romano chose to take a sip of his wine. It was clearly a manoeuvre meant to save time, but Prussia wasn't going to fall for it. He knew exactly what kind of distraction was needed to get Romano to loosen up. 

When Romano put his glass down, Prussia used the chance to pour some of his beer into it.

Romano stared at the glass and then at him like he couldn't believe what had just happened. “What the fuck did you do?”

“I made your wine awesome!”

“It's ruined!”

“No, I bet it tastes even better now!”

“Yeah? Then you drink it.”

Romano pushed the glass over the table so that it was standing before Prussia's nose.

“It's your drink,” Prussia pointed out.

“Not anymore now that you've disgraced it. You're buying me a new one after you've tasted the horror you just created.”

“Anything I make is perfect!”

“Then drink it. All of it,” Romano said, and Prussia wasn't sure he liked the sudden, demanding glint in his eyes. He was challenging him, he realised, and that meant that he couldn't back out. He had his pride to defend. 

“On one condition,” he said.

“And what's that?”

“If I drink all of this,” Prussia said and took the glass into his hand, “then you're going to finish my beer.”

Romano snorted. “That's easy. Now pour that liquid waste down your stupid throat.”

“Sure, but I'm warning you, once I drink this, it's all gone and you can't have it.”

Prussia brought up the glass and took a courageous gulp of the mixture. The moment the first drop touched his tongue, he felt like gagging – fuck, how come something as good as beer had turned disgusting just because of some wine? Beer was the manliest drink in the world! It was supposed to be stronger than that! But at least it hadn't gone down without a fight because the wine was equally ruined.

“Wow, this is so good!” he announced. “I feel so sorry for you because you aren't drinking it!”

Romano leaned his chin on his hand and regarded him with a smug and amused look in his eyes, like he had a front row seat to an entertaining show. Seeing him like that, finally relaxed and not acting as if he was expecting Prussia to pin him down and press a gun to his head, made him so happy that it was almost worth having to swallow the disgusting dreck. 

Since doing this was nothing to a guy like him, he downed the rest of the drink in one strong gulp.

“Man, that was great!”

“You almost threw up, you idiot.”

“No, that was just my body trying to reject the awesomeness of this drink! You know, like you can't put matching poles of two magnets together.”

“Goddammit, you're so full of shit,” Romano muttered. He reached for the beer stein and took an evaluating look inside. Before Prussia had the time to ask if he was really going to do it, Romano had brought it up.

He's drinking beer, Prussia thought in amazement, forgetting about the aftertaste that was simmering on his tongue. Romano was drinking beer. He was actually doing something that Prussia liked, and he wasn't complaining about it.

He tried not to be too distracted once Romano had emptied the stein and licked the remains of the beer from his lips. It was one of the hottest things he had ever seen.

“The fuck are you staring at?” Romano asked.

“You drank my beer!”

“Yeah, that's what you wanted, wasn't it?”

“I didn't know you can drink beer! That's like... I don't know, West playing video games or France going to McDonald's or –”

“Just because I think wine is better doesn't mean I can't drink this. Besides, this is Belgium's beer, not the piss they serve in your country.”

Prussia was too amazed by this turns of events to even register the insult towards one of the most sacred things to him. He wondered if Romano would allow him to buy him another beer just so that he could watch him drink it again.

“They say it's not a good idea to mix different kinds of alcohol. You should probably stick to beer for the rest of the night, just to be sure,” he said.

“I'm not a baby. I can drink whatever I want. And now is the moment you get me a new glass of wine!”

“Sheesh, okay! But don't come complaining to me if you pass out or throw up or something.”

When Prussia returned with new drinks, Romano no longer looked like he wanted to hide under the table. Watching him swallow the glass of the horrible mixture had apparently made his night, and his posture had relaxed. The frown on his face was only mildly annoyed, not angry. Of course, that could also be the beer talking.

“Okay, the way I see it is that we should split our responsibilities about the party. You cook and I clean your house. That's good, right? I already told you I'm the best at that stuff, so you just leave it all to me.”

“As long as you don't come anywhere near the kitchen and don't suggest those potato abominations again, whatever.”

“Works for me,” Prussia said. He figured that the recent experience with beer and wine had taught him that sometimes mixing two great things didn't result in something twice as good. The idea still had potential, though. For example, he and Romano were the better halves of their countries, so...

And that thought reminded him of the fact that it wasn't just the party he had wanted to talk about.

“By the way, I know all about –”

He didn't finish that because the next instant, Romano's eyes moved to something behind his back. Prussia turned to look, just in time to see Spain and Belgium enter the bar. The two were holding hands and found an empty table.

Romano was still looking at the two of them when Prussia turned back, but he quickly moved his attention to his drink when he noticed that Prussia was staring.

“Should we invite them here?” Prussia asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don't want to bother their night together. They're both dealing with enough shit right now anyway, especially Spain.”

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Prussia didn't miss how Romano kept stealing glances in Spain and Belgium's direction and how the almost pleasant atmosphere had suddenly grown icy again.

He thought back to what Spain had told him in Switzerland. He had said there had never been anything between him and Romano, but that didn't mean Romano had never had any feelings for him. Hell, he could be madly in love with him. It wouldn't be the first time Spain was too dense to notice something like that. 

Or maybe Romano was in love with Belgium. That would explain why he was suddenly so grumpy. It had to suck to have to watch the person you wanted be with someone else, even if you had sworn to be a good friend and not get between them. Maybe it was something like having to watch the person you wanted want to be with someone else, like he was doing right now.

“Does it bother you that they're here? Because we can leave,” he said.

“No, why the hell should it bother me? If it was your stupid brother, then it would bother me.”

“Yeah, of course. I just figured... I mean, for a long time there, I actually thought you and Spain would get together. Haha, isn't that funny?”

Romano wasn't laughing. His fingers tightened around the glass.

“It's none of your business who I get together with,” he growled. “Just mind your own life! Don't you already have your hands full since you're trying to fuck everyone in Europe?”

“I'm not!”

“Yeah, right. I've seen the way you look at Veneziano. The fact that you're going after your own brother's boyfriend is pretty telling, asshole.”

“I'm not after him!” Prussia said. “Sure, I like him because he's cute, but I like a lot of cute things, not just your brother – bunnies, little birds, those cartoons with the mouse, the elephant and the duck, Liechtenstein... Just because I like them doesn't mean I want to date them. Especially not Liechtenstein because that would be a really unhealthy relationship.”

“Yeah, she's too innocent to be tainted by ones like you.”

“No, I meant unhealthy for me. Because of Switzerland.”

Romano, who had been in the process of taking a gulp of his drink, let out a snort that splattered half of the wine in his mouth on the table and Prussia, and from the coughing that started right after, the rest went down his windpipe.

“The fuck are you doing? Do you want to kill me?” he asked as soon as he could bring himself to speak again.

“No, I'm trying to make you laugh. And it worked! No use trying to hide it by pretending that you're wiping your mouth!”

“I'm only laughing because the mental image of Switzerland shooting you in the head is so fucking hilarious,” Romano replied.

“Nah, you're laughing because we have the same sense of humour.” And probably because they had both been drinking enough to start feeling warm and giddy. Romano was utterly adorable when he was doing his best not to smile, but Prussia found himself wishing that he could get that reaction out of him without having to do some prep work with alcohol.

Romano only reply was a snort.

“But anyway! Change of topic!” Prussia declared. “There's actually another reason I asked you here other than just the party. I know that you told Italy to tell West to give me this job.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Come on, don't give me that. Italy told me that you bugged him endlessly until he went to West and got him all worried that I was going to kick the bucket. Denying it now is just going to make you look stupid,” Prussia said.

“I wasn't bugging him! I was... Since when do I need a reason to talk about how shitty your bastard brother is? I was just complaining that if my brother was doing that to me, I'd kick his ass! I don't know how you can stand that ungrateful, self-centred sack of... of muscles.” Romano crossed his arms on his chest in the middle of his rant and pouted, refusing to meet Prussia's eyes.

“Yeah, well, whether you did it on purpose or not, West got really annoying about it. He wouldn't stop sulking until I agreed to take this crap job,” Prussia said.

It was then that Romano glanced at him. “What, so you don't like it?”

“I have nothing against the job since nothing is too much for me to handle, but I don't like others making decisions about my life. There's been enough of that in my history.” Prussia paused, not really sure how to word what he wanted to say next without making Romano blow up. “So, I guess what I'm saying is thanks for the help, even if you didn't mean it, but in the future ask first before you do something that'll make West breathe down my neck like that, okay?”

Romano reached to grab his glass and took a swig. Since he hadn't started yelling, Prussia supposed he had made his point and that they could put this whole matter behind them, but then Romano turned to glare at him. His eyes were aflame with such viciousness that Prussia was momentarily taken by aback. 

“So, you'd rather just pretend that nothing's wrong?” Romano asked.

“Oh, not you, too,” Prussia said with a groan. “Listen and spread the news. I'm never going to die! I'm too awesome!”

“You also said you'd always be the best kingdom in the world, and look what happened!”

Romano's words took Prussia by surprise, so he wasn't quite in time to stop himself from wincing. That was a low blow. Nobody had the right to mock him for losing his kingdom! He had thought Romano was all bark and no bite, but that had hurt.

“Hey, that wasn't my fault, so if you want to insult me, at least –”

“I'm not insulting you, you fucking idiot!”

“Then what?”

Romano reached for his glass again, but then he noticed that it was empty. “Fuck, you still owe me,” he said and took Prussia's beer instead.

Prussia swallowed a comment about how it would soon be Romano who owed him, but he really wanted to hear what Romano had to say, so he kept quiet and waited for him to put the stein down.

“God, you're such an idiot,” Romano muttered, wiping his mouth. “The biggest idiot and bastard I have ever met in my life. You're so selfish and in love with yourself that you never stop to think that...” This was when he took another gulp of the beer. “You should think more about... about how others feel. Like your stupid brother. He's a total idiot like you, but I bet he'd be upset if you just vanished.”

“But I'm not going to vanish!” Prussia said in exasperation. “How many times do I have to say that?”

“How do you know?”

“What?”

“I said, how do you know? What if you're dying but are just too stupid to realise it? Or so enamoured with your own ego that you don't see it?”

“But I'm not!”

“Then tell me what's keeping you alive.”

Prussia realised he didn't like the grim look in Romano's eyes. What he liked even less was that he had no answer. He had wondered about it occasionally, but he had always decided that he was simply so awesome that the world couldn't make it without him. Anything else gave him a nasty feeling that he knew he should have classified as fear, but he didn't want to be afraid of anything, so he didn't think about those other possibilities.

“Yeah, can't even answer. Pathetic,” Romano muttered. “You should be happy someone's even bothering to try to help you.”

“So, why do you bother?” At this point, it was pretty obvious Romano had pulled the whole stunt on purpose. It was a lot of effort for the sake of someone he hated.

Romano opened his mouth to say something but swiftly changed his mind. He pushed the half-empty beer stein away and stood up.

“I'm going back to the hotel,” he said, and Prussia couldn't help but think that there was some disappointment in his tone. He just didn't understand why. He hadn't done anything to piss him off, right?

“Wait, I'm coming, too.”

“Don't bother.”

“Normally I wouldn't say no to drinking alone since it's the best, but I'm making an exception this time.”

No words were exchanged as they walked back to the hotel. Prussia kept thinking back to their conversation and tried to understand what had gone wrong this time. If someone out of the two of them had the right to be upset, it was him. In a way he was. He didn't like thinking about his illogical existence since there was nothing he could do even if he was dying. Better have fun and enjoy life to the fullest while it lasted.

Their hotel rooms were on the same floor. Italy and Romano were staying in one that was closer to the elevators, so Prussia wished Romano good night, received no reply and continued down the hall towards the room he and Germany shared. 

On a whim, he took a glance over his shoulder. Romano was still standing at the door to his room, a keycard in his hand and not making a move to open the door. Prussia waited a moment to see if anything would happen, but nothing did.

“What? Did you get sudden alcohol poisoning?” he asked as he made his way back.

Romano didn't say anything, but he didn't really need to. Prussia figured out what the problem was the very next instant when there was a loud moan from the other side of the door.

“Wow, I have no idea what your brother is doing in there, but West seems to like it!”

“I'll fucking kill them both!” Romano snarled. “What the hell am I supposed to do now? I can't go in there, not now and not ever because I'm not sleeping in a room that reeks of their disgusting, horrible, repulsive –”

“Sex?”

“Yes! That room is contaminated now! Fucking Veneziano! I told him not to let the bastard in there!”

Prussia crossed his hands behind his head. “You could bunk with me. There's an extra bed now that West is staying with Italy.”

“Yeah, like hell!” Romano snapped, letting out a desperate bark of laughter. “Like I'd ever share a room with you!”

“Then you can stay here and eavesdrop on our brothers having sex. We both know the hotel is booked full with all the nations and their aides. It's up to you.”

Just then, there was a particularly loud groan from behind the door, and the shade of Romano's face grew so dark that Prussia didn't think there was any blood left anywhere else in his body. For a while, Romano stood there, clenching his fists and glaring at the door, but then his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I'll kill all of you,” he muttered.

“Why me?”

“Because I don't want to share a room with you, but I have to, and I want to kill someone because of it!”

“But it's not my fault!”

Logic did nothing to stop Romano's grumbling. Once they made it into Prussia and Germany's room, he just stood there in the middle of it, arms crossed on his chest, and glared at the wall with his lips pressed into a tight line.

“You can have West's bed,” Prussia said.

“Hah, I'll never sleep in his bed!”

“He hasn't even touched it. But you can take my bed, too. Just know that I've been rolling on it all day.” Prussia paused, a grin taking over his features. “Or is that why you want it? Hoping that some of my awesomeness will rub off on you?”

“Fuck you!”

Romano looked close to panic for a moment, but then he made up his mind and sat down on Germany's bed. He took off his shoes, jacket and tie and tossed them on the floor before crawling under the covers and hiding there.

“Aren't you even going to take a shower before you go to bed?” Prussia asked.

“I'm not getting undressed for as long as I'm here! Leave me alone!”

Prussia sighed and shook his head but decided that he wasn't in the mood for dealing with this. Romano could be as stubborn as he wanted. It wasn't his problem. Plus, that meant he could claim the bathroom right away and spend as long as he wanted there without anyone complaining about it.

“Well, I'm taking a shower! You can peek if you want!” he announced with a cackle.

When Prussia got out of the shower, he saw that Romano was still buried under the covers. Really, that guy was paranoid, he thought as he adjusted the towel around his waist and walked to his bed. It wasn't like he had anything to worry about.

As if on cue, the covers shifted and Romano poked his head out. He didn't say anything and refused to look straight at him. No doubt he wanted to check him out but was too embarrassed to do it. Prussia decided to do him a favour and grabbed another towel for drying his face so that Romano could have a moment admiring him without having to worry that he would notice.

He's so weird, Prussia thought. Didn't he realise that it was normal to be crazy about his body and that he liked it when people looked at him? It was nothing to be embarrassed about.

“I wonder what's going to happen if West comes back after he's done with your brother and decides to go to bed,” he said.

He stole a glance at Romano and saw that his face had grown deathly pale. He probably couldn't imagine anything worse happening.

“Haha, don't worry. I'll write a note outside the door so that he knows to go back,” he said.

“You had better.”

Even though the image of Germany's face if he found Romano in his bed in the middle of the night was hilarious, Prussia wrote the message and stuck it to the door. He was pretty sure having Romano cause a scene would be one of those headache-inducing things German had warned him about.

He crawled to bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. “Nighty night!”

“If you snore, I'll kick you into the hallway.”

“Right back at you, pasta boy.”

Despite it having been a tiring day (getting back to work for real took a little more effort than he had anticipated), Prussia found that he couldn't fall asleep. He was sharing a room with Romano. It was such a waste that they were both in different beds and weren't even looking at each other. They could have done so many of the kinky things from Romano's stories.

Surely Romano had to be thinking the same? He had written the stories because he thought he was hot. There was no way he wasn't thinking about them now, imagining what would happen if Prussia crept into his bed, tied his hands to the bedposts with the sheet and spread his legs to get better access to his private parts.

Prussia clenched his eyes shut and tried to banish the thought. He didn't want to get a hard-on right now. Romano would kill him if he noticed him jerking off, and just trying to ignore an erection would be torture.

He tried to focus on something else instead and returned to playing their conversation at the bar over in his head. It had come as a surprise that Romano was serious about the possibility of him dying, but he supposed it made sense. When Italy had become a unified country, Romano had probably been worried about his fate. Of all the nations in Europe, he had to be the one who understood his situation the best.

And at the bar he had practically admitted that –

“Hey, Romano.”

“I'm trying to sleep, bastard.”

“But I just thought of something. When you said that I never think about how others feel and how people are worried about me, did you also mean yourself?”

There was no answer. He couldn't even hear Romano breathe.

“Is that why you got angry when I asked why you had tried to help me?” Prussia prodded. “Because if so, a little help would be nice. I'm not a mind reader. It's not fair that you get mad at me for things that I couldn't have known, okay?”

He waited another moment to see if Romano would say anything.

“Hey, are you still awake?”

At first there was no answer, and Prussia was sure that Romano would spend the whole night sulking, but then there was the sound of the covers shifting. He couldn't see much in the dark, but he could imagine Romano glaring at him.

“So what if I'm worried about you? How is that any of your fucking business?” Romano asked.

“It is my business if you go sneaking behind my back and re-organize my life for me!”

“Somebody has to because you're such a self-centred loser that you won't even admit that you could disappear! Like I'm just going to watch and let you be stupid until it's too late!”

“Then why the hell didn't you just talk to me? You know, send me message or ask me out for coffee or something!”

“Because you're such a bastard!”

“Why are you worried about me if you hate me so much? Fuck, I just don't understand you. I have no idea how Spain tolerated you all those years.”

“Yeah, well I don't know why I bother with you at all! You should just die already like my grandpa so that we wouldn't have to deal with you anymore!”

There were a lot of things Prussia would have like to say, starting with pointing out how someone in the room certainly was pathetic but that it wasn't him. Just what the hell was Romano's problem? Why couldn't he express his emotions like normal people? One moment he almost got the feeling that Romano liked him, and then the next instant he was yelling how much he hated him. What was he supposed to think of that?

“You suck,” he said. “You sure have a lot of nerve accusing me of being selfish and only thinking about myself when you're doing the same thing. Do you ever stop to consider how your non-stop insults make others feel? My self-confidence is like steel, so I can take it, but a lesser guy could be hurt. Just so you know. You promised you'd be decent to me, but that sure didn't last long.”

What a pair they made, he thought in irritation when Romano's only response was silence. He would have been willing to be a little lenient if Romano would do the same in return, but it looked like they were forever stuck in this cycle of being jerks to each other. At this point, he didn't know if there was anything he could do about it or if it would even be worth it.


	13. Chapter 13

When Prussia rolled over to his side, he felt that the sheets of the bed had got loose. Damn, he hated when that happened. Hotel beds tended to suck like that. Eyes still closed, he wondered groggily if he should get up and fix the bed or ignore the problem and go back to sleep.

Hehe, West would take out a ruler and make sure the sheets were straight, he thought before burying his face into the pillow to get some more shut-eye.

Wait. Germany wasn't here. He was with Italy. And that meant...

Prussia forced his eyes open and lifted himself up on his elbows so that he could get a better look at the bed to his left. Sure enough, there was a mop of brown hair peeking from under the covers. Romano was still in the room, and based on the steady rise and fall of his chest, he hadn't woken up yet.

The idea of tiptoeing to him and stealing a look at his sleeping face was pretty tempting, but it was a manoeuvre that came with too many risks to Prussia's liking. He wasn't sure on what terms the two of them were after the previous night's argument, and he could almost hear Fritz' voice in his head, telling him not to be stupid enough to make Romano even angrier.

But did it even matter? He once again found himself wondering why he was wasting his time with someone who obviously didn't like him – or sometimes liked him and then suddenly hated him again. He could do better. Everyone would line up to audition if he said he was available.

He took a glance at his cellphone's clock. It was getting close to five, which meant that Germany was no doubt up already. He was probably wringing his hands in Italy's room, desperate to come and get some fresh clothes but afraid that if he stepped inside, Romano would bite his head off.

Prussia decided to be a good brother and take some clothes to him. Everyone would be miserable if Germany started his day off on the wrong foot. As he did so, he tried to be as quiet as possible and not wake Romano up. It turned out to be pretty difficult not to laugh when he noticed that Romano's limbs were pointing to every direction and that there was hardly any free space left.

Would be hard to share a bed with him, Prussia thought.

His knock on the door to Italy's door went ignored for a moment, but then Germany came to let him in. Relief washed over his face as soon as he saw who it was.

“It's you,” he said. “I thought Romano was coming back.”

“He's fast asleep. I guess he's pretty exhausted after last night.”

Germany's shoulders stiffened. “Please tell me you didn't –”

“Have hot, sweaty sex? Nah, I think he just tired himself out by being angry. You should have seen his face when we found out what the two of you were doing here! Sounded like you got a great ride!”

“You... you heard it?”

Prussia laughed at the blush on Germany's face. “Kind of hard not to hear. Be glad Romano didn't open the door and bust you two. You should have at least put a 'don't disturb' sign on the door.”

“We forgot.”

“That good, huh?”

“Let's not talk about that,” Germany said in a strained voice.

“Sure, whatever. Anyway, where's Italy?”

“Still in bed.”

Sure enough, Prussia spotted Italy on the bed, sleeping on his stomach. Apart from the fact that the shade of his hair was a little paler, the sight was identical to what he had just seen in his and Germany's room. He couldn't help but chuckle.

“What's so funny?”

“Those two sleep exactly the same. You should come to our room and take a look. Romano is sprawled over the bed just like that.”

“I don't need to see that, and I don't think he'd like me to,” Germany pointed out.

Prussia sat on the vacant bed as Germany went to take a shower. He wondered if he should go back to Romano, but he was pretty sure he'd get yelled at once the other woke up. He'd rather stay here and watch Italy sleep. He was so adorable.

Romano would be so much more tolerable if he were more like his brother, he mused. Italy was cute, friendly, always ready for hugs and never called him an asshole. If that were combined with Romano's hotness and dirty imagination, the result would be perfect.

Italy let out a sudden, happy moan and shifted until he had rolled over to his back. He sat up, smiling and blinking his eyes against the light from the windows. 

“Oh, Prussia,” he said. “I didn't know you're in my room, too. Good morning!”

“Morning, Ita-cakes. Sleep well?”

“Yeah, I was so tired. And Germany was, too. Usually he tries to move me back on my side of the bed when I put my legs all over him, but this time he didn't mind!”

“There isn't much room to move you anywhere on that bed. It's just for one person,” Prussia pointed out.

Italy stopped look at the bed for a moment. “You're right! That's because the other bed is Romano's so we didn't want to put them together. Germany said that Romano was staying with you last night. I'm so happy you're making friends!”

“I wouldn't call it that,” Prussia said with a snort. “We had a fight.”

“That's okay. Romano has fights with people all the time.”

“It's not the fighting that's the problem. It's that there's no making up afterwards.”

“Hmm,” Italy hummed with a thoughtful frown on his face. “You could buy him something good at breakfast to cheer him up.”

“I'd rather see that he buys something good for me because the whole thing was his fault,” Prussia replied. 

“That might take a while. Romano isn't very good at apologizing. You're going to solve the whole mess faster and easier if you make the first move.”

Though he was a man of action, Prussia didn't really like that plan. If he was going to spend time with Romano, he didn't want to volunteer to be the one who was always wrong and had to patch things up when they fought. He may not have been the most responsible and well-adjusted person in the world, but even he knew that this approach would just cause more problems, not solve any.

A sudden bang on the door made both him and Italy jump.

“If someone is doing something disgusting in there, I'll kick your ass when I get in!”

The door was then shoved open and a somewhat worn out-looking Romano stormed in, his hair a mess, his clothes wrinkled from having been slept in and his face marred by an unhappy frown. He shot Prussia and Italy a dark glare as he made his way to his suitcase.

“I told you not to do anything disgusting here,” he said.

“We're just talking!” Italy objected.

“You're fucking naked and leaving nothing to the imagination, idiot!”'

It was true, Prussia realised with some surprise. Though everything crucial was still covered by the blanket on his lap, there was no denying the fact that Italy wasn't wearing anything. He was sure he would have enjoyed the view just a few weeks ago, but now he hadn't even noticed.

“But I like sleeping naked! You know that! You like it, too!”

“Shut up!”

Romano took out an armful of clothes from his suitcase and stormed back to the door. “I can hear that the other bastard has taken over the shower, so I'm out of here before he comes out and shows his disgusting muscles to the whole world!”

“Are you going back to our room?” Prussia asked.

“No, I'm going to take a shower in Netherland's room!”

After Romano had left and slammed the door shut, Italy turned to Prussia. “I think he's in a better mood already. He talked to you,” he said brightly.

“That's not good enough for me,” Prussia muttered in irritation. “Anyway, I had better get back before West starts nagging at me about wasting time. As if I'd ever be late for breakfast.”

“Okay,” Italy said. “Oh, and thanks for keeping Romano company last night!”

Prussia figured he didn't need a shower since he had taken one before bed, so he was content with grabbing fresh clothes and taming his amazing hair enough so that Germany wouldn't complain. After that he headed downstairs to see what sort of breakfast buffet the hotel was offering.

He filled his plate with bread, slices of meat, cheese, eggs, a few pieces of apple and grabbed a cup of coffee. As he scanned the tables, he saw that France was already there and decided to join him.

“Did you stock for Germany as well, or are you planning to eat all that?” France asked.

“Of course it's all for me! And it's just my first round. I'll go back for more.”

France muttered something under his breath and turned his attention back to his pathetically small cup of coffee and croissant. Prussia had never learned to understand how France could start his day like that. As far as he was concerned, a full stomach ensured that everything he did turned into a success.

“How was your rendezvous with Romano?”

“What do you think?” Prussia asked and built a fortress of meat and cheese on top of the first slice of bread.

“So it's safe to assume it didn't end with the two of you spending a lovely night together?”

“Well, we did spend the night together, but I wouldn't call it lovely.”

France's eyebrows shot up. “Details, please.”

“Not like that, so get that look off your face. We just shared my and West's room because things had got busy in the Italies' room.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Don't tell me there wasn't at least a little sexual tension in the air.”

“I showed him my awesome body when I came from the shower. I know he liked it, but he's so reserved that he didn't admit it.”

“Romano is hardly reserved,” France pointed out. “And you certainly aren't, so why didn't you make the first move?”

“Are you kidding? He was so pissed off last night that I'm sure he would have bitten my dick off if I had put it anywhere near him.”

France sighed and shook his head. “And I can't blame him. You just don't have a romantic bone in your body.”

“Yeah, as if he does. He was real nasty to me last night.”

“Of course Romano is romantic. Every Mediterranean nation has passion flowing through their veins. He's just a little...” France paused to take a sip of his coffee as he searched the for right word, “crude about expressing it.”

Prussia popped an apple slice into his mouth. “Yeah, whatever. I don't care. Why are we even talking about this?”

“I don't know. Why did you go out with him rather than your best friend?”

“Because we're organizing that kick-ass party for our brothers and because I had to make sure the coast was clear so that West could have some action. He's going to be mellow today, so you can thank me for arranging that for you.”

Prussia was about to turn his attention back to his food when he noticed Spain and Romano enter the room. They chose a table that was as far away from him and France as possible. It had to be Romano's decision, Prussia thought sourly as he watched them.

They were so far away that he couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it was clear they weren't just having a casual conversation over breakfast. Romano was gesturing with his hands as he spoke, and Prussia got the impression that he was pretending to kill someone. Every once in a while, he picked up a piece of food that Spain slid to him over the table, stuffed it into his mouth, and then the ranting began anew.

He's probably bitching about me, Prussia thought. At this point, he was starting to suspect that he hadn't even done anything to piss him off and that being angry and hateful was just the way Romano was wired. And now he was unleashing all his dislike towards him at Spain who –

A sudden thought crossed his mind. Spain had raised Romano. The two of them were practically brothers. Spain had seen Romano grow up and probably knew him better than anyone else, maybe even better than Italy. So, if he wanted to understand Romano, he should consult Spain for some strategy.

He was almost done with his breakfast when Romano suddenly jumped to his feet, knocked over his chair and marched out of the room. Everyone turned to look, but nobody went after him. Soon enough, everyone's attention was back in their food.

“I told you he's passionate,” France said.

“You're confusing childish temper tantrums with passion. No wonder you keep failing at getting England to your bed.”

Once he was done eating, Prussia decided to make a quick trip to the men's room before the meeting would start. He was about to enter, but just as he was reaching for the handle, the door was pulled open, and he found himself face to face with Romano.

“Oh, hey,” Prussia said. “How's it going?”

Apparently, not very well. Romano didn't stop to answer as he shoved him out of the way and marched away. Prussia only managed to catch a glimpse of his face, but it was enough to tell him that Romano had been crying.

Prussia could feel a headache on its way and wished more than anything that he could just skip the meeting and curl up on the couch with a beer. He didn't know how to deal with all this. Maybe he could just challenge Romano into a fight and they'd beat each other until everything was fine again?

“Spain had better have an explanation for all this bullshit,” he muttered as he stepped into the restroom and closed the door.

The meeting started well enough with Netherlands giving everyone an update about what was going on in his country and what he was planning to do next. Prussia did his best to take notes, but he spent most of his time reading the revised calculations Germany had sent him. He wasn't happy to notice that his brother had changed almost everything. He had completely ruined the perfection.

“Hey, Spain!” he called out as soon as everyone was getting up to go and get lunch. “I'm eating with you today!”

“Sure, let me just tell Belgium that there'll be three of us.”

“Actually, I was thinking that I'd steal you for myself. I want to talk about something.”

“Oh, okay. Then I'll just tell her that she should go with Netherlands and Romano.”

Prussia tried not to feel guilty as Spain went over to Belgium and explained the situation. He expected her to send a glare into his direction for ruining her date, but the look in her eyes was nothing short of excited. She even gave Spain two enthusiastic thumbs-ups before shoving him to Prussia's direction.

“She doesn't look upset,” Prussia pointed out.

“She doesn't mind. She's been telling me to talk to you anyway.”

“About what?”

“About Romano.”

“What? Why the hell does she want you to talk to me about him?”

Spain shrugged. “I'm not exactly sure. But since Romano wanted to talk about you this morning, I guess it makes sense.”

“What did he say about me?” Prussia asked as they left the conference building and started heading towards a restaurant that Spain knew and liked.

“Mostly that you're a complete asshole and that being in your company makes him want to jump into the Tiber or throw you into it. He couldn't make up his mind.” The smile on Spain's face never once wavered, as if they were talking about the weather rather than his ex-ward's emotional problems that clearly ran deep.

“I haven't even done anything to him!” Prussia protested. Well, other than prying into Romano's personal business and discovering his secret fantasies, but that was old news. He had been on his best behaviour after that. If anything, Romano should have been worshipping the ground he walked on rather than throwing yet another tantrum.

“He's just upset, and he's not very good at channelling his negative emotions. It usually helps if you give him something good to eat.”

“That's shitty advice,” Prussia said.

“I don't think so. Food always makes you feel better when you have problems.”

“Yeah, so does alcohol, and yet everyone is always saying you shouldn't drink your worries away.”

They found a table in the restaurant. After a moment of scanning the menu, Prussia decided to try the same dish he had had the previous day. He wasn't really feeling like experimenting, even if Belgian food wasn't all that strange.

“Anyway, did Romano say anything else about me?”

“A lot, but it was a little difficult to understand. He mumbled half of what he said. I think he was embarrassed. Just what happened after you left the bar yesterday? I didn't really catch that.”

“What, you saw us last night?” Prussia asked, blinking in surprise.

“Yes, and heard, too. The whole bar probably did. Belgium actually wanted to bet on if you'd be thrown out because you kept yelling at each other.”

“What did you hear?”

“Just you two arguing about how Romano was trying to help you out. I hope you thanked him later.”

Prussia snorted. “I didn't ask him to do that, and I don't like it when someone tries to control me behind my back. He should have apologized.”

“I told him that, but he got angry even though I said that everything will be fine if he just admits that he made a mistake. That's right, right? You aren't upset at him?”

“No, I guess not,” Prussia said. “I don't really even care if he apologizes or not. I just want to understand how his mind works. I want to know what he really thinks about me. Sometimes we get along so well, and then all of a sudden he completely blows up. How the hell did you deal with that all those years?”

“You have to know how to give him enough space,” Spain said, turning to smile at the waiter who brought them their orders. “He'll come around after his anger is all burned out.”

“I'm not exactly the kind of guy who goes around giving others space. You know that. What about what I want? Why do I have to wait until he's done throwing his fit? Why can't we deal with it my way?”

“I don't think Romano would appreciate the broken furniture and cracked ribs.”

Prussia stabbed his sausage with his fork. “At least my way would clear the atmosphere. I'm sick of him getting angry at me and not telling me why. Why doesn't he just fucking tell me what's bugging him?”

Spain looked at him for a moment before reaching for his juice. “Say, what it is that you want from Romano?”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

“You two were never very close, but now you both suddenly want to talk about each other today. What's up?”

“That's just it! I don't know! I guess I would kind of like to ask him out or something, but I'm tired of him first being nice to me and then treating me like shit. I honestly can't say if he's interested or if he hasn't got any taste.”

“I don't think he'd be so upset if he wasn't interested. That's probably why he gets so angry in the first place. He doesn't know how to deal with it, and it frustrates him. You should have seen him when he developed his first crush. There was this girl in the village near my house, and for two weeks Romano would just glare at her when she came to get water from the well,” Spain smiled at his plate as he paused to think. “Then one day he finally got the courage to go and talk to her, and he was really sweet and offered to carry her water for her, but then he fell over – he was really clumsy back then, see – and not only did he pour the water all over the road but he broke the vase, too. He was so embarrassed that he ran away crying and just left her there.”

“Wow... And how come you know so much?” 

“I was following them and saw the whole thing.”

“What?”

“He was my little boy. I wanted to cheer him on.”

“Sounds like you did a shitty job.”

“Maybe, but that's not the point I was trying to make with that story.”

“Then what's the point? I'm starting to think Romano learned this stupid behaviour from you since you can't seem to just say what you think either.”

“What I'm trying to say is that when you put Romano into a situation in which he feels vulnerable, he lashes out. I know how to deal with him when he's like that, and so does Italy. The problem is that you're one of the least patient and most selfish people I've ever met, so you and Romano are –”

“What, hopeless?” Prussia asked. No way. He was the perfect match with anyone!

“Going to have to work a little. You have to find some middle ground because even if Romano's way of dealing with his problems isn't very good, neither is yours,” Spain finished.

“What problems? I don't have any problems!”

“Well, if you say that.”

Spain turned his attention back to his food, and Prussia couldn't tell if he was just being air-headed like usual or if silence was his way of underlining his point. Either way, this conversation hadn't gone like he had wanted. He had been hoping that Spain would give him some key to cracking the code that was Romano, but it looked like he would have to do it himself after all.

The meeting would resume after the lunch break, and everyone would go back home after it ended at five. It would be a week and a half before there was another one. Prussia didn't want to wait that long. He would have to come up with something to have a moment alone with Romano.

“I need you to do a favour for me,” he said.

“What is it?”

“I'm going to skip the meeting with Romano. Give West some really good excuse for us so that he doesn't pop a vein.”

“Sure, I'll do that. But you're going to have to promise something to me, too.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Romano is still my little boy. If you pull any of your usual stunts with him, Germany is going to have to learn to represent the country alone again, okay?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Great!” Spain gave him the thumbs up and a smile. “Then good luck!”


	14. Chapter 14

Prussia and Spain returned to the conference building some fifteen minutes before the meeting was scheduled to resume. It wasn't difficult to find Romano – he, Belgium and Netherlands were sitting on the benches outside the meeting room and chatting about something. Or rather, Romano and Belgium were while Netherlands sat in silence. Prussia couldn't help but think that he looked like a wolfhound watching over his family.

“Why did we come back this early? We could have stayed at the bridge. It was nice outside,” Romano was saying.

“I thought it would be better if we didn't arrive late for once. I'm hosting the meeting,” Belgium said.

Romano grumbled a bit, but much to Prussia's surprise, that was the extent of his objections. Not a single profanity left his lips. 

Prussia was once again reminded of the morning when he had spotted Romano being polite to a waitress. It was clear he could act like a functional adult when he felt like it. Prussia's first thought was that he was only nice to women, but he didn't seem to have anything against Netherlands, so that probably wasn't it.

“Hey, there!” Spain called out and waved to the others.

“Where the hell have you been?” Romano asked, but his face fell as soon as he noticed that Spain had company. “And why did you drag the bastard here?”

“Listen, Belgium, Netherlands, I have something really important that I have to talk to you about right now, so why don't we just leave Romano and Prussia here alone?” Spain suggested.

“Subtle,” Netherlands said as he stood up and allowed Spain to give him a shove to the back to get him moving.

Belgium followed them, but not before leaning in to whisper into Prussia's ear, “I and Netherlands fed him two portions of his favourite pasta. You're all set!”

“Hey, what the fuck? Where are you going?” Romano asked and watched his friends scurry down the hall. “Don't leave me, dammit!”

“Looks like it's just us now,” Prussia said.

Romano turned to glare at him and stood up. “And soon it's going to be just you!”

“Hey, come on! Wait! I want to talk to you!”

“Piss off, jackass. The meeting is about to continue, so I'm busy.”

“Let's skip it!”

“What?”

“Yeah, I already told Spain to cover for us. Let's go out and have dessert! My treat!” 

“Why the hell should we do that? Give me even one good reason!”

“What if I just want to hang out with you for a bit?”

Romano crossed his arms on his chest and snorted. “Yeah, right! You're just after something.”

“Okay, you got me. I'm after a fun day with you!” Since Romano didn't immediately yell at him to shut up or leave him alone, Prussia seized the chance and continued, “And I want to... okay, so   
'talk about' makes it sound all serious and shit, but I guess that's the closest thing. I think we should talk about yesterday.”

“There's nothing to talk about, bastard,” Romano said, but the usual ire was absent from his voice. Since he had been bugging Spain with his complaints that morning, Prussia supposed the whole affair was bothering him, too.

“You know there is. Let's try to be civil to each other long enough to sort this out. If you want to bite my head off and yell at me later, okay. I'm really good at multi-tasking, but let's solve this argument first before starting a new one.”

“Fine,” Romano said with a huff, “but only because we're already late to the meeting, and I'm not going there to be yelled at by your stupid brother.”

“Sure, works for me! And now let's have some waffles!”

It turned out Romano knew a nice, small café where the waffles were extra large and where it wasn't so crowded. Prussia had to admit it was better than what he would have found as he didn't know Brussels all that well.

“I used to come here with Belgium,” Romano explained once he mentioned it to him.

“Used to?” Prussia asked and scanned the menu. There were seven kinds of chocolate he could take with his waffles plus berries and cream and candy. It was a decision that required ultimate planning.

“She's busy.”

“Yeah, I guess the situation with the Euro is really is eating up everyone's free time.” Prussia could understand that Romano was feeling grumpy about that. He couldn't remember how many times he had spent the day alone at home with the dogs and his bird because Germany was too busy to run the country to remember that he had a brother who deserved attention or how many times Spain and France had turned down his invitation to go drinking.

Romano grunted in response and studied the menu.

“And I guess she's spending more time with Spain now, huh?”

There was no reaction to that as Romano continued to glare at the pictures and descriptions of different waffles. It occurred to Prussia that Romano was the only single in his social circle. Spain was with Belgium, Italy with Germany, and he was pretty sure Netherlands was having something going on with Canada, or at least that's what the rumours said.

“Well, don't mind any of them!” he said. “You can have me all for yourself, so who else do you need?”

“Someone whose voice I can bear to listen to without wanting to fucking vomit.”

“Then I guess I had better not buy you a waffle because I'm going to be talking a lot before we're done. I'm not going to pay for it if it's just going to waste.”

“Screw you. You promised me one, and I'm having it. With extra cream.”

Prussia finally settled for a waffle with strawberries and white chocolate. As they waited for their orders to arrive, he wondered how he could approach the variety of topics he wanted to talk about so that Romano wouldn't put up all his defences as soon as the first word left his mouth.

“So, what did you have for lunch?” he asked, remembering how everyone kept telling him to lure Romano in with food.

“Pasta alla Norma, but I don't see how that's any of your damn business.”

“Just curious, honest. Do they make that right here?”

Romano scoffed at him. “Obviously you can't get the real thing outside Italy, but it wasn't that bad. Not like some garbage I've had to eat elsewhere. Belgium has some nice restaurants where they know what they're doing.”

“Yeah, well I think pasta tastes the same everywhere.”

“That's because you're a complete idiot! It's not the same at all. You have to cook it right, and the cheese has to be just the right flavour you need for that particular pasta, and if you're using vegetables, they have to be fresh. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Your taste buds are no doubt rotten useless after eating the filth that you have the nerve to call food,” Romano said and shot him an irritated glare, like he wasn't really expecting him to get it.

“Only one way to find out,” Prussia said. “You've got to treat me to some really good pasta when I come over to clean your house for the party.”

“Who knows, maybe I'll be curious enough to find out if you're as much of a hopeless case as your stupid brother,” Romano replied.

Their waffles arrived, and the next few moments Prussia spent mesmerized by how good his tasted. He loved sweet things, but this was so much more than just sugar. He wished he could try all the other toppings, too, but he couldn't really justify buying a new waffle for each of them.

“I'm going to steal some of your whipped cream,” he announced and scooped a pile of it on his waffle.

“Who the fuck said you could do that? Hands off!”

“Hey, calm down. I'm willing to trade. Here, you can have one of my strawberries,” Prussia said and stabbed one with his fork. He offered it to him, but Romano swatted his hand away, blushing furiously when it got uncomfortably close to his mouth.

“Stop that!”

“What, you don't want it?”

“Not like that!”

“Relax, it's not like we're a couple or anything.”

“A-and thank God for that!”

Romano snatched the strawberry from the fork, popped it into his mouth and began chewing angrily as he turned his eyes back to his waffle. Prussia had to bite his tongue to keep himself from pointing out that anyone with even the slightest amount of taste would have been overjoyed at the prospect of dating him. But he figured he they should first work through the previous day's problems before he angered Romano with more truths.

“Anyway, about yesterday...” he started.

“There's nothing to talk about.”

“Yeah, right, that's why you had that crisis conference with Spain at breakfast today.”

“I did not! Fuck, your ego really is stupidly big if you think we were talking about you!”

“Why the hell is it so difficult for you to admit that yesterday is bothering you? It's bothering me, too, or we wouldn't be here. So, let's get this figured out, okay?”

That seemed to have landed a hit behind Romano's defences, or at least Prussia hoped so. He wasn't yelling and didn't look like he was about to jump to his feet and storm away. His only reaction was glaring at his waffle and poking at it. The developing shade of his face made Prussia think he was watching a sped-up video about the ripening of a tomato.

“I don't really get your reaction to this whole thing anyway,” Prussia continued, figuring that he'd just keep going now that Romano was listening. “You said you were worried about me. That's great, but why didn't you just walk up to me and say, 'Hey, Prussia, I know you're really awesome, but I'm a little worried about how you're doing'?”

He waited a while to see if Romano was going to answer, but the other stubbornly kept his eyes on his plate.

“It's kind of like you didn't want me to find out that you were worried,” Prussia said. “But that would be really stup – ” He cut himself off when he noticed the angry grimace that momentarily took over Romano's features, and then it hit him. Romano _hadn't_ wanted him to know.

“Hey,” he said, feeling a little insulted, “Why were you trying to keep it a secret? It's not like I would have got angry or laughed at you or anything!”

“And how the hell was I supposed to know that?” Romano snapped, finally lifting his eyes so that he could glare at him. “Look at yourself, dammit! You keep telling everyone that you're fine, but you can't even give a reason for it. You aren't taking anyone seriously even though your dismissal is hurting a lot of people! You're just so fucking full of yourself.”

Prussia was momentarily at a loss for words. It was true that he didn't like to bring up his current state of existence and preferred to keep marching forwards with a grin on his face. But that wasn't because he didn't care about anyone else – he cared about Germany and didn't want him to think that it might be his fault his brother no longer had a country to his name. Germany already had more than enough in his history to feel forever guilty about.

If he really was going to die one day, he wanted everything to be normal for as long as possible. He didn't need Germany or France or anyone to feel that they had done it to him.

“I'm not going to panic before I have a reason. Come on, look at me,” he said and pointed at himself. “Do I look like I'm about to crumble to dust? I'm in my prime!”

“That's what you've been saying for as long as I've had the misfortune of knowing you!”

“That just shows you that I'm always in my prime!”

“Sorry for wasting your time, then,” Romano grumbled with a huff and moved the last piece of his waffle around on his plate.

“Don't be so negative! We wouldn't be having these great waffles without you,” Prussia said. And it was sort of nice that someone had been thinking about him. He was a little surprised that out of everyone in his life, it was Romano who had – 

The thought was cut off, and he turned to look at Romano as he suddenly realised something. Actually, it made perfect sense that Romano had been the one to do this. Their situations weren't exactly the same, but they were among the few still existing nations in the world who had learned not to take their lands, people and name for granted.

“You sure _you're_ okay?” he asked.

“And what's that supposed to mean?”

“If you think you're going to disappear, just let me know, okay?”

“Why the hell would I think that?”

“I don't know. I just thought that it might happen, and maybe you wouldn't want to tell anyone, so you'd get everyone all worried about me and hope that they'd remember that hey, isn't Romano in this same situation?”

“You only think that because that's exactly what you would do!”

“I wouldn't!”

“Whatever, asshole. If you want to think that's why I did it, fine. Are we done now?”

Prussia felt like smashing his head against the table. It was as if he hadn't made any progress at all! “That's not what I think! Do you always have to twist my words and make the worst out of them? I know you were worried about me. So why aren't you happy now that I've told you I'm fine?”

Romano made a choking sound at the back of his throat and slit his eyes in suspicion as he stared at him. Prussia observed the tight angle of his shoulders and thought back to what Spain had told him earlier about Romano and how he dealt with situations in which he felt vulnerable.

He looks like he's ready to bolt, he thought. Then they'd have to do this all over again, and he wasn't sure he had the patience for it.

“Or are you just going to tell me again that I should die already?” he challenged.

He almost regretted his words when he saw Romano wince, but he didn't want to back down. If they were going to hang out together, Romano had better learn that he couldn't just say any shit he wanted to him and not expect him to get pissed off.

“I...” Romano started but broke off. He slammed his fork on the table in anger. “God, you're just so stupid! No, I don't want you to die. I didn't think I would actually have to spell something like that out for you, dammit.”

“Then why did you say it?”

“Because I was angry.”

“Why? Just because I didn't –”

“At myself, you idiot!”

Prussia hadn't been expecting that, nor the sudden self-loathing that briefly flashed on Romano's features. The irritation he had been feeling earlier was once again replaced by confusion as he tried to understand what Romano was getting at.

“Huh?” was the most intelligent answer he could manage.

“Never mind.”

“I do mind! And I don't speak Angry Italian, so this is another thing you're just going to have to spell out for me!”

Romano leaned back on his set and turned to look at the busy street life around them. “You said it yourself. You don't like it when people mess with your life. That's... that's exactly what I did, and it pisses me off that I messed up.”

“But –”

“I don't know why I even bothered for a bastard like you. Should have known everything would just go to hell and that I'd screw up so badly that... Fuck, forget it, I'm done here.”

Romano made an indifferent gesture with his hand and kept his eyes glued to the passers-by who were hurrying down the street. He was scowling as usual, but Prussia didn't think he looked particularly angry. The frustrated line of his mouth and the resigned posture reminded him of men who knew the battle was lost and no longer had the energy to lift their weapons.

“But nothing's wrong,” he said. “Even awesome guys like me make mistakes sometimes, so it's totally okay. It's not like you set me up on a blind date with Russia or anything.”

Was Romano really taking it _that_ badly? He was acting like he had just ruined everything between them beyond repair. While Prussia did find such an overreaction irritating, he couldn't help but think it was also a little cute. Romano sure didn't want to admit it, but it clearly meant a lot to him whether they were on speaking terms or not. Even more, he had wanted to do something nice to him – that meant he liked him and that he had forgiven him for the kinky story fiasco, right?

“Let's just forget about this whole thing and never talk about it again, okay?” he decided. “We have other stuff to worry about, like the party.”

“What, you still want to go through with it?”

“Yeah! We have to decide a date so that everyone can mark it in their calendar. Not that it really matters because everyone always has free slots there just in case I decide I want to hang out with them, but I guess it would be polite to announce it in advance.”

Romano snorted and turned back towards the table. “Yeah, just keep deluding yourself. Nobody in their right mind would want to spend time with you.”

“You're here right now.”

“Just proves that being exposed to you potato-suckers for this long has finally made me snap.”

Prussia wondered if that was Romano's way of confessing his undying love and adoration to him. This would have been a great moment to grab his hands and suggest that they move the conversation to somewhere more private, but he figured he should play it safe. He had already scared Romano off once by being too straightforward, and only an idiot walked twice into the same ambush.

“Don't look so grumpy about it! What's better than making an awesome friend like me?” he asked. “The two of us, I think we should stick together. Our kid brothers may be running the countries, but we're the secret strength behind them. They wouldn't make it through a single day without us!”

Romano glared at him but didn't argue. Prussia mentally patted himself on the back for the great move. There was no way Romano could give him shit about that without insulting himself, so his strategy had been a success. Maybe he should switch to pointing out how great they were together instead of focusing on himself all the time. It might boost Romano's confidence in that even if Prussia was the best, he wasn't that bad himself.

“God, I can't believe I'm still sitting here and listening to this,” Romano said and closed his eyes to rub them.

“But you are, so that means you accept my offer of friendship. And since friends share everything, I'm having the last piece of your waffle!” Prussia announced and emptied Romano's plate before the other had the time to put up his defences.

“Hey! Who the fuck said you could do that?”

“Aww, come on! It's all soggy because you let the whipped cream melt. I'm doing you a favour!”

“I don't care! It's mine, and you can't have it unless I say so!”

“Okay, so can I have it?”

At first Romano looked like he was going to say no out of spite, but then he snorted and rolled his eyes. “...fine, if you're really so goddamn desperate for it.”

“See how well we're getting along now that we've cleared all the misunderstandings? We're the best!”

Alright, so the waffle wasn't so good now that it was wet and slippery, but Prussia supposed he had reason to be glad that he had got it without further fighting. If it weren't for the fact that he wasn't a total wuss like some people, he might have reflected on that he didn't mind the sucky waffle because Romano had given it to him. 

“We still haven't decided on a date for the party,” he pointed out.

“Not before the big meeting in two weeks. I and Veneziano are talking, and we've got our hands full. I'm not doing anything extra until that's over.”

“Works for me. I guess that's about the amount of time West needs to fit something other than work into his schedule anyway.”

“We could throw the party without him.”

Yeah, with just you and me, Prussia thought. What he said was, “But it's for him and Italy. There's no point if they aren't there. But I know what you mean. Who needs anybody else when I'm there?”

“That's not what I said!” Romano snapped. “Let's just agree that it'll be on Saturday three weeks from now, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Prussia took out his cellphone. “Wow, look at the time. I think the others must be wrapping things up by now.”

“Right, I guess we had better get going.”

Romano made to rise from his seat, but Prussia waved at him to sit back down.

“Hey, what's the rush? I don't know about you, but my flight home isn't until much later. We can still hang out.”

“Why? We already decided the date, and we know what both of us will be doing. There's no point in wasting more time.”

“Oh, come on! It's never a waste of time to hang out with me and – hey, hey! Don't go!”

Prussia got up and hurried to catch up with Romano who had decided to leave the table without further comments. He grabbed his arm to make him stop and ignored the furious glare that Romano sent him.

“Hands off me, bastard!”

“Why are you being like this again? I want to do something with you. If you don't want that, at least say it to me instead of throwing these childish tantrums!” Prussia said, but he did let go.

Romano retreated a step and rubbed his arm. “I just don't see the point in this.”

“What, is it _that_ difficult for you to believe that I like being with you? Do you really think I'd waste my valuable time on someone who wasn't fun? Because I wouldn't. But you know what else?” Prussia paused, searching Romano's face for any signs that he might be receptive to what he was going to say next. He hadn't really planned to take a risk like this, but he had never been one to ignore a good opportunity for victory, even if failure might mean losing everything.

“What?” Romano asked.

“I also don't want to waste my time on people who treat me like shit all the time. I think I've been pretty damn patient with you, but if you're going to act like every second with me feels like someone is pulling your teeth out, forget it. I'm not so desperate for company. There are tons of people who would love to have me around.”

“Y-yeah? So what?”

“So if you really want me to fuck off for good, say it now and let's get this over with.”

Romano let out a frustrated growl and ran his fingers through his hair. “God, why are you so stupid all of a sudden?”

“Because I can't know what you want from me if you won't say it! Maybe Spain could since he's had years of practice, but I can't. So either you tell me or we're done.”

“Done with what? We don't even have anything!”

“Didn't I just tell you I want us to be buddies? I want to go and have beer with you and send you stupid messages in meetings and other shit like that. But if you don't want to, fine.”

Actually, it would be anything but fine, and Prussia hadn't even realised how much he didn't want Romano to turn him down until now. At the same time, some kind of resolution would be a relief. He just didn't understand Romano, and if something didn't happen soon, his patience would run out.

“Fuck,” Romano swore under his breath. “I can't believe I have to explain these things to you. Yeah, you're pretty damn stupid most of the time, but if I really hated you, I'd just kick your ass.”

“Then why do you always say that you hate me?”

“I just do, okay? I say a lot of things I don't mean. Stop taking it so goddamn personally. You don't give a shit when Molossia tells you he hates you.”

“Well, that's because he's... well, he's Molossia! You've seen him! He's a self-centred ass with an ego way too big for someone who isn't even a real nation! I don't need to care about what he thinks.”

“Right, that's why you're taking his war with you seriously.”

“Well, I haven't had any good wars lately, so I'll take what I can. But that's not the point. The point is that... okay, so technically there is no point because someone who is as great as me shouldn't care about what _anyone_ thinks, but I'm kind of thinking about letting you into the small and privileged group of people whose opinion just might matter a little bit to me. And this is a once in a lifetime offer.”

The angry outburst he was expecting from Romano never came. Instead, he crossed his arms on his chest and glared at him with a suspicious frown on his face.

“Do you mean it? This isn't just some stupid joke to you?” he asked.

“Yeah, I mean it. I don't know where you got this idea that I'm a total asshole, but let go of it.”

“Fine, I'll believe you, but if it turns out that you're just plotting something stupid, you'll regret it. You don't want to piss me off.”

“So now I can officially call us friends?”

“Yeah... I guess,” Romano said with a roll of his eyes.

“Great! I suggest we go and drink something to celebrate right away because I need a beer after all this talking. And it's your turn to buy.”

***

Prussia was in a considerably better mood when he took a seat by Germany's side in the taxi that was meant to take them to the airport. Though Romano had still been a little prickly, he had relaxed a little and hadn't complained one bit when Prussia had made him pay for the drinks. Maybe he was finally making some progress.

Germany gave him a long, disapproving look. “Spain told me you and Romano skipped the meeting because you had to deal with your emotional problems.”

“Great,” Prussia groaned. “I told him to cover for us! The least he could have done was come up with some story about us saving babies from a burning building.”

“You mean what he said is true? I thought that was the cover.”

“Never mind that. I've been doing some thinking, and I really need your input on this,” Prussia said. He waited a moment to make sure Germany was listening and then continued, “Do you think Romano is being a dick to me because he's secretly in love with me and lusts after my body?”

The sound Germany made reminded Prussia of Berlitz when he got a fly stuck in his throat.

“Doesn't he treat everyone like that?” Germany asked.

“Yeah, but I'm special! I figure he's nervous. He's probably so impressed by me that he thinks he's not good enough for me and is afraid to make the first move because he's sure I'll reject him. Happens all the time! That's why nobody has asked me out in fifty-two years.”

“I'm not sure if –”

“But I'm dealing with that! I've already made us progress into friends, so now it's only the matter of time before I have him. I'm actually going to set myself a deadline. The party is coming up in a few weeks, and I swear Romano is going to be my boyfriend by then.”

“Since when are you even interested in him? No, never mind. _Why_ are you interested in him?”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

The tight line of Germany's mouth revealed that this was a topic he very much didn't want to talk about but that he knew he couldn't avoid. “I don't think he has many of those qualities that make someone a... well, a good boyfriend. I mean, I don't even want to imagine what normal life with him would be like.”

“Says the guy who follows his boyfriend around the house with a rag and cleans up after him. You aren't a prime model of a functional partner, either, but Italy still puts up with you.”

“That is completely different,” Germany said defensively. “I just hope you know what you're doing. If you aren't really interested in him, you should leave him be. You haven't been together with anyone in a while.”

“Oh, so now you're suddenly the expert just because you're with someone and I'm not? Newsflash, West. Italy is your first boyfriend, and I've had several! I know exactly what I'm doing.”

“I just don't think you should take this lightly. If something goes wrong, it's going to be messy.”

Prussia laughed and gave Germany a punch to the shoulder. “You're just worried that if I and Romano have a nasty break-up, Italy's going to close his legs. Never fear! We're going to be the best couple ever!”

“That's not what I meant! I just don't think Romano is the kind of person who takes it well if someone is toying with him, so you shouldn't do it if you aren't serious.”

“I'm not toying with him! You really shouldn't think like that about your own brother. Haven't I shown you countless times what a great guy I am?”

“You said it yourself. You haven't had a serious date with a nation in decades.”

“I'm not rusty if that's what you're implying,” Prussia said, feeling more irritated than he knew he should have. From a practical perspective, Germany probably had a point. So many things could go wrong, and if one or two did, it would take a long time before the dust would settle. But he wanted to try.


	15. Chapter 15

Prussia was lying on his bed with his hands crossed behind his head and staring at the ceiling. It was a few days since the last meeting, and he hadn't seen Romano since. That was nothing strange as few nations had the time for constant social calls. Most of them only saw each other when there was a conference or some other official business that required face to face interaction.

Back in the day when the fastest way to reach someone had been a really good horse, nations had often gone years without seeing each other. The life of a nation had been much lonelier; close friendships with humans had been more common. Prussia knew all too well how fulfilling and yet tragic that could be.

But times had changed, and now he had a handy phone that could take his messages to Romano in absolutely no time.

The phone on his stomach began buzzing, and he grabbed it (not hastily but in a totally cool way because it wasn't like he had been waiting for the message or anything) to see what Romano was saying. The first few messages had consisted of him telling him to leave him in peace because he had work to do, but he had never stopped replying, so Prussia supposed it was okay to keep going.

_No, it's not raining in Rome._

Prussia began to write a reply, but then he decided that it would be a lot more fun to go outside and take a photo of himself in the rain that had been beating the streets of Berlin since early morning. He placed his bird on his head and hurried outside to the garden where he struck a pose by Germany's rose bushes.

“Wait,” he said to Gilbird. “I should wait before I take the photo so that my T-shirt will get wet and Romano will think this is a really hot picture.”

The bird replied by digging deeper into his hair to get away from the rain.

After a while, the front door was opened and Germany came to stand outside.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I'm taking sexy photos of myself for Romano.”

“Can't you do that inside? You're going to catch a cold in this rain.”

“But I need to be wet so that he'll see my muscles through my shirt and how the water is running down my skin!”

“We have a shower in the house.”

Prussia laughed. “West! You don't take wet T-shirt photos in the shower! That's for sexy shower photos, and I don't think Romano is ready for them yet. I've got to be subtle with him. I'm sending him this picture to show how much it's raining here. His jaw will hit the floor when he sees me, but he'll never suspect my real reasons for sending it to him.”

“And you can't do that without risking pneumonia?”

“You should be glad you're getting this chance to see my strategical genius in action!”

“I'll have hot coffee ready when you decide to get back inside,” Germany said and retreated into the house.

“If I hadn't just managed to convince Romano that I'm fine, I'd tell him I got sick from this rain and that he needs to come and nurse me because West is too busy,” Prussia said to the bird. Then he thought about it for a moment. “But then he might think I'm weak, so maybe that's not a good idea after all. I should tell him to stay away because I don't want to take the chance of infecting him. Then he'd think I'm strong _and_ noble. Maybe I should tell him about my Catholic past.”

By now, the rain had drenched him, and he was starting to shiver, so he took a few pictures and then hurried inside. True enough, Germany had coffee brewing in the kitchen, and Prussia took a seat at the table and began to browse through the pictures to find the best one.

“Which do you think makes me look the hottest?” he asked.

Germany didn't even look up from the newspaper he was reading. “I don't know.”

“Come on, West. You can admit I'm hot. I won't think it's weird. You aren't so bad yourself.”

“I'd rather not be involved in this.”

“Suit yourself,” Prussia said and sent the best photo to Romano. Then he poured himself a mug of coffee and sighed contently as he wrapped his fingers around it. The first sip of the coffee sent pleasant, warm shivers down his spine and to his limbs. He had always liked coffee despite the fact that very much like the French language, it was an issue he and Frederick had never agreed on.

“You should change into something dry,” Germany pointed out.

“Stop nagging already. You know I never get sick. I'm too strong! I'm not even connected to the economy, so I have nothing to worry about. And –”

Prussia was cut off by his phone, and he immediately checked out what Romano was saying about his picture.

 _Goddammit, you didn't have to go outside like a total idiot to tell me it's raining over there! I'm telling Veneziano to call your brother in five minutes and if you haven't taken a hot shower by then, I'm making you eat a piece of_ casu marzu _next time I see you._

Attached to the message was a picture that made Prussia decide that a shower was exactly what he needed at the moment. Once he was done and was drying his hair in his room, he figured that he wanted to move their communication to the next level.

“Hey, what's up?” he asked when Romano answered the phone.

“Why are you calling me? I told you I'm busy!”

“You didn't have to pick up the phone.”

“Yeah, and then you'd just keep calling me again and again, and I have to keep the phone turned on in case the boss gives me a call.”

“Don't you have a different phone for work?”

“We're saving money, jackass!”

“Wow, you're such a hard worker. West would be proud. Anyway, do you really eat that stuff you just showed me?”

“Yeah, it's good.”

“But those weren't real maggots in it, right?”

“Of course they were!”

“Damn, that's sick. That's one side of Italian culture you don't have to introduce me to.”

“Actually, it's Sardinian.”

“Isn't that the same thing?”

“That's like saying that Frederick the Great was a German king!”

“Okay, Sardinian, then.”

“Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I'm busy, so –”

“What kind of work are you doing?” Prussia asked and took a comfortable position on his bed.

“The same as everyone else. Trying to figure out how to get the country out of this situation. The same thing you should be doing. How the hell do you have the time to stalk me on the phone all day long?”

“I told you I'm good at multi-tasking,” Prussia replied, but in all honesty he was a little behind on his work. Now that the novelty was gone, dealing with government business and trying to improve the economy were not so satisfying after all, especially since it wasn't really his country he was working to help.

Romano snorted. “Well, I can't work on these stupid reports if I have to listen to your grating voice at the same time, so bye!”

Prussia spent a moment staring at his phone before turning to look at Gilbird. “He hung up on me,” he stated. He spent a moment pondering how he felt about that, but then he decided that he liked it. Romano hadn't said not to call him again. He had basically invited him to call him back as soon as he was done with his work!

“I wonder how long it's going to take,” he mused. He wanted to call him again right away.

Bored, he rolled over to his side and took a peek under his bed. It was where he kept his important items, such as the diary he was currently keeping, his porn magazines and the recent addition of the box of sex toys he had bought for him and Romano. He took out the box and looked inside.

“Maybe we can use these one of these days after all,” he said and took out the purple vibrating dildo. He tried to recall some of the details from Romano's stories and how he had bucked against him as he had pushed it inside. He was making such good progress. Soon enough, Romano would be begging him for it.

He decided to spend his spare time doing some work so that he could tell Romano he had been productive as well when he called him again. It wouldn't hurt if Romano saw that in addition to being hot, funny and perfect, he was reliable, too. He seemed to have an unreasonable low opinion of him, so some extra PR was always good.

“I don't really get him,” he said, grabbed the bird from his hair and placed him on his stomach so that it was easier to talk to him. “If he thinks I'm a total asshole, how come he was writing those stories about me in the first place? Porn, sure, but there was so much more in them.”

It crossed his mind that maybe he should ask Germany's opinion since he had more experience with dating Italians, but then he figured that big brothers did not go to their little brothers for relationship advice.

“West is still such a kid and looks up to me all the time. I can't let him think I may not be perfect every second of the day. He probably wouldn't be able to deal with it. And it's not like I need advice,” he mused. “I'm a great talent! Whatever problems I've had in my relationships were just because the others couldn't stay on my level!”

Encouraged by these thoughts, he got dressed and started wading through the endless paperwork to put some sense into Saxony-Anhalt's education budget. He wasn't really a fan of the school system they had in the country, but he didn't think Germany would let him revamp it even though the Prussian system had once been so good that lots of nations had copied it.

Three hours later, he figured that he could try calling Romano again. He didn't pick up the phone the first time, so he tried again ten minutes later. That's when he finally got a reply, though it took a long time and Romano was panting when he made it to the phone.

“What now?”

“You sound really out of breath. Did you run to get to the phone because you didn't want to risk missing a chance to talk to me?”

“No, goddammit! I've been busy!”

“I didn't know paperwork could leave you that exhausted. Intensive calculations?”

Prussia tried not to grin as he listened to Romano's heavy breathing. If he let his imagination run wild, it would be pretty easy to pretend that they were having phone sex. He wished he could see him right now; no doubt his face was flushed from whatever had left him tired, and there were probably trickles of sweat running down his temples.

“I'm not working on that shit anymore. I've been doing things in the garden.”

“Oh, you have a garden?”

“Of course I have one, jackass! Where else do you think I can grow my tomatoes?”

“I don't know. In the countryside?”

Romano made an annoyed click with his tongue, and Prussia could imagine him rolling his eyes at him.

“Yeah, like they'd let me live there all the time. I have to be in Rome to make sure things are running. I have a much bigger place in Roggiano Gravina, but I can't be there as often as I'd like.”

It occurred to Prussia that he didn't actually know much of anything about what Romano liked to do. Sure, he knew he could cook and that he had a thing for tomatoes, but that was it. He had no idea what kind of music he liked, what his favourite sandwich toppings were or what he did before going to bed.

“Why not?” he asked. “You could do your work there and talk to them online or on the phone.”

“I don't have Internet there, and I always turn off my phone when I'm staying in the countryside. I've got better things to do there than worry about shitty politics.”

“Like what?”

“Like – Wait, why are you asking?”

“Just curious. Come on, I've never been to Italian countryside. Tell me what it's like. What do you do there?”

For the briefest moment he was sure that Romano wouldn't answer, that he'd hung up on him again or change the subject. But then he spoke in a wary tone that promised unspeakable horrors if Prussia dared to laugh.

“I've got a big tomato field and olive trees. I just look after them and the house. The damn thing is falling apart, so there's always something to do there.”

“But you said you can't go there often. What if you can't be there to pick the tomatoes when they're ready? Will they just stay there and rot?”

“Of course not! The neighbours will get them, and they can keep them. It's not like I need that many tomatoes.”

“What, so you just take care of them for fun?”

“Y-yeah, got a problem with that?”

“No! I mean, it's not something that I'd do for kicks, but if you like it, do it. West is always nagging at me about my comics and video games, and I'm not going to be a dick like him. But what exactly do you do when you take care of tomatoes? Do they just need water?”

For the next twenty minutes, Romano talked about his tomatoes and olive trees, one of which he claimed was older than him. He told him about the house and how he needed to put new tiles on the roof but couldn't be bothered because it rained so rarely. It was a long way to the next house, but the neighbours' children still came by every day when he was staying at the house – and it had been like that for a century by now; the children just changed with every generation.

The thought of Romano getting along with children had honestly never crossed Prussia's mind, but he supposed the kids wouldn't keep going to see him if he was a dick to them. And Romano didn't sound annoyed when he talked about them. Rather, Prussia could almost imagine him smiling, like when he was speaking to Belgium.

“Hehe, I didn't know you had a soft spot for kids,” he said.

“I don't! They're just useful because I can make them do chores!”

“Yeah, right, sure. But if that's the case, will you invite me over if I promise to fix that roof for you?”

“You'd just make it even worse.”

“No, it would be the best roof in history! You wouldn't have to touch it for another century or two.”

Romano snorted, but Prussia didn't think he was really annoyed. He wished he could have seen his face at that moment because he was sure that Romano wasn't frowning right now. He really, really wanted to be there to catch a glimpse of a possible smile.

“The countryside is where I go when I need a break. Inviting you there would be completely pointless.”

“Why? Because being with me helps you relax, so you don't have to travel anywhere to do it?”

“No, because you're an idiot. And I've wasted more than enough time talking to you today. Don't call me again.”

“Okay, then I'll call you tomorrow.”

“Whatever! Just let me be already!”

And then he hung up again, but Prussia felt that he had made much more progress this time. He was sure it wouldn't take long before Romano invited him to his countryside house, and then they could do all the relaxing they wanted. He already had plenty of ideas.

He was feeling hungry, so he made a trip upstairs to see if there was anything in the fridge. He was in the process of making a sandwich with all the sausage he could fit between two slices of bread when Germany walked into the kitchen.

“You look happy,” Germany pointed out.

“Yeah, well I just had an awesome chat with Romano.”

“Oh. About what?”

“Farming.”

Germany paused in the middle of reaching for a mug in the cupboard and turned to look at him.

“Since when do you care about farming?”

“I don't, but –” Prussia cut himself off and began to laugh. “Shit, West! I'm getting pretty involved in this, aren't I? I just listened to someone talk about farming for almost half an hour! I should get a medal for endurance.”

“I don't know if I should be glad that your attention span seems to be improving or worried that you're focusing on the wrong things,” Germany said.

“And what's that supposed to mean?”

Germany turned his attention back to the cupboard, but Prussia got the feeling that it was more because he wanted to hide from him than because he actually wanted that mug.

“Well... For someone who built one of the strongest kingdoms in history, you have been drifting from one unfinished project to another for some time now.”

“What, like the doghouse I tried to build in the backyard? That's kind of what not having a country to your name does to you, but don't worry, I'll clean up the mess one of these days. But that's not what I meant. What the hell do you mean by wrong things? Do you still think this will ruin your relationship with Italy?”

“No, I'm just worried about both you and Romano.”

“We're grown-ups, not some kids who just declared independence. Whatever happens, we can deal with it. We're mature.”

Germany sighed in a way that told Prussia he didn't agree but thought it better not to start a fight.

“I'm not going to stop you,” Germany said, “but I want you to promise what whatever you do, keep it out of politics. The last thing we need right now is half of Italy declaring war on us.”

“If he really wanted to do that, I'm sure we've given him reasons enough already.”

He was finally done building his sandwich and took a bite. Germany watched in distaste how pieces of sausage fell to the floor because he had once again stuffed the sandwich so full that it was difficult to eat it.

“Don't worry about the mess. The dogs will take care of it,” Prussia said.

“In any case, don't bother Romano too much. He and Italy are to give a detailed report of their progress at the next meeting, so he's going to be busy. And for that matter, leave Austria alone as well.”

“He's going to talk? That'll be a riot. I bet he's going to declare that his loser country is going bankrupt.”

“He has less debt than we do.”

“So? That's just because he's too much of a coward to do anything with his money.”

“That completely contradicts what you just said. And he does have a lot of debt, too. It's just that – ”

“See, I told you he's failing!”

“No, he's not. And if he were, we would be there to help him. We can't keep the European Union intact without working together.”

“I vote for kicking Austria out. That would solve all the problems. Or maybe I'll start my own union and won't let him join. Haha, I'll ask Romano to join first!”

“I told you to keep politics out of it.”

“Then I'll just ask him to join me... in bed!”

Based on the expression on his face, Germany didn't think his joke was particularly clever, but Prussia didn't care. He was in a great mood as he returned to the basement with his sandwich and noted that it was only seven hours until midnight, and then he could call Romano again.


	16. Chapter 16

Once again, the nations had gathered in Brussels to talk about the current economical situation and what direction the European Union should take in the future. As usual, Prussia and Germany were in the conference room well before the meeting was scheduled to start. The rest of the overly punctual crowd was present as well. Netherlands was trying to engage Germany in banter about football while Finland was doing his best to look like he was interested even though he was terrible at the game.

Prussia was busy reading his e-mail when the doors to the room were suddenly pushed open. He didn't look up, knowing that it was too early for both halves of Italy and Spain and that France was too dignified to bang the doors like that when he entered. That was why he was actually surprised when he heard the more than familiar whine.

“Romano! Stop... pulling me! We ran the... whole way from the hotel and... and I can't keep this up!”

He looked up from his tablet to see Italy and Romano in the room, both red in the face and panting as they leaned against each other.

“Italy, is something wrong?” Germany asked.

“Yes!” Italy cried. “Romano made me run all the way from the hotel and didn't even let me finish my breakfast! I'm tired!”

Germany's face betrayed no sympathy for his plight. “I've told you to exercise more so that you'll stay in shape!”

“I know, but it's so hard because I'm so busy and I don't want to waste my free time doing things I don't like! I'm sorry!”

Prussia put his tablet away and took a better look at Romano who was being much quieter than his brother but looked equally exhausted. His usually perfect suit was wrinkled, his tie crooked, and his shoelaces had come untied. He wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand and blew some of his hair from his eyes. Suddenly all Prussia wanted to do was to straighten his clothes so that he'd look spotless again.

“What are you staring at, idiot?” Romano asked once he noticed him.

“Just wondering why you two are here so early. Usually you're both at least ten minutes late.”

“That's because Romano really, really wanted to have a chance to talk to you before the meeting starts,” Italy said.

Romano made an irritated click with his tongue. “Stop complaining! I can talk to my friends whenever the hell I want. Besides, we're here because we're speaking first, and we need time to prepare. I told you that!”

“I'm not complaining. I think it's great that you like Prussia so much.”

“I don't like him!”

“But you mumble his name in your sle –”

“Italy! Did you remember to bring all the files you need to show us today?” Germany interrupted.

“Of course! They're all in my briefcase. Do you want to check?”

With Italy distracted for the time being, Prussia supposed there was still a chance to save the situation before anyone cut off diplomatic relations with anyone else. Netherlands apparently thought the same because he grabbed Finland by the arm and started dragging him away, promising to tell him something interesting about Alfred J. Kwak. That left Prussia alone with Romano whose face was turning such a deep shade of red that it couldn't be healthy.

“You okay?” Prussia asked, trying his best not to smirk.

“I'm fine!”

“You look like your head is going to explode. At least have a seat.”

Prussia pointed at the chair by his side. It was Estonia's seat, but since he hadn't arrived yet, he considered it free for taking. After a brief moment of hesitation, Romano did sit down, but not before grabbing the chair and moving it a little farther away from him.

“Just so you know,” Romano said and began fixing the sleeves of his jacket with shaky fingers, “what that idiot just said was complete bullshit.”

“So you don't mumble my name in your sleep?”

“Maybe when I'm having nightmares about eating potatoes, but Veneziano is so fucking stupid that he always gets everything wrong!”

“I'm still planning to bring some of my and West's things to the party, so maybe you'll get a chance to see your nightmares become reality.”

“Yeah, like I'd be stupid enough to eat anything I haven't prepared myself. Go ahead and poison yourself and everyone who's stupid enough to try your crap, but you can't trick me.”

“We'll see,” Prussia promised, already plotting how to slip a few potato slices into Romano's pasta.

The meeting would end the following day, after which he and Romano would fly straight to Rome to make everything ready for the party. The nations they had invited would arrive two days after that, provided that Romano's house was still standing after the two of them had been left there alone.

More nations began to drift into the conference room, so Romano left Estonia's seat and walked to the other side of the table where his chair was. Prussia watched him spend a moment going over a few more details of the presentation with Italy and decided that he'd take the best notes in history so that he could chat about Italy's economy with Romano later.

This time, the opening speech was given by France. The meeting was in Brussels, but they didn't want to burden Belgium with having to play host every time they held a conference, so they usually took turns. Prussia couldn't wait for his chance. He was sure it was coming any day now.

Italy and Romano had prepared a slideshow about what they had done to improve their economy and reduce their amount of debt and what they were planning to do in the future. It wasn't pretty, and Prussia could only imagine how difficult the next few years would be for their people.

The presentation took longer than expected, partly because both of the brothers tended to ramble and partly because there were so many questions for them. Germany, Netherlands, Finland and others with more or less stable situations wanted promises of improvement and more accurate measures. If it hadn't been for the fact that it was already time for a break and Germany didn't want them to fall behind schedule, a fight would have broken out about why common citizens had to suffer in order to support banks who had caused the whole mess in the first place.

Prussia wanted to ask Romano to have a cup of coffee with him during the break, but Romano stormed right out of the room. Italy hurried after him, so Prussia supposed he'd catch up with France instead.

“Have you checked the program? Specs is talking next. We're in for a real comedy!” he said as he threw himself on a seat in the cafeteria.

“And why is that? He's doing pretty well,” France said.

“His credit rating is just AA! What a loser! I and West have AAA!”

France frowned at him over his cup of coffee. “My rating is also AA. And if we evaluated your half of Germany on its own, I very much doubt you'd get three As.”

“Yeah, because if I didn't have to drag West along, I'd have AAAA.”

“There's no such rating, you imbecile!”

“I know. They would have to create it for me.”

“Your ego really knows no limits. But I suppose never giving up is an admirable trait.”

Prussia took a gulp of his coffee, trying not to wince at how hot it was. “Yeah, you can't bring me down. I just don't get what's so special about Austria that he gets to have the entire second half of the meeting for himself. I bet he has nothing to say anyway.”

“Maybe they want him to be an example to the rest of us. His frugality is good in times like these.”

“Yeah, right. I bet he's going bankrupt. I wish Hungary was using the Euro so that she could be here and see him make a complete fool of himself.”

“Even if that happened, I doubt it's his financial skills that draw her to him.”

“What else does he have?”

“For one thing, he's always a pleasure to look at,” France replied, a far-away look entering his eyes.

“Really? Personally, I've always thought that if he painted a beauty mark on his butt cheek, I wouldn't be able to tell his face apart from his ass.”

“And on how many occasions have you had the privilege of taking an intimate look at his behind?”

“We've fought on the same side in a few wars. I've seen more than enough of him for a lifetime. You wouldn't believe what a sissy he is on the battlefield. He even brought that stupid violin of his once.”

“There's nothing wrong with trying to maintain some level of civilization even in combat situations.”

Prussia couldn't help but laugh. “Oh, right, you've teamed up with him, too. I bet you two used to paint each other's nails between battles.”

“It's times like this that I wonder why I even bother talking to you. With Austria I could at least maintain a decent conversation for longer than five minutes.”

“It's because you can't get enough of me,” Prussia replied. He reached up to grab the bird from his head and placed it on the table. “Anyway, mind looking after Gilbird for a minute? I'm going to hit the toilet.”

“If I must, but it's not coming anywhere near my hair.”

“Don't worry. Only the best hair is good enough for him. And you,” Prussia said, turning his attention to the yellow ball of fluff, “be nice to Uncle France. Daddy will be back soon.”

Portugal was exiting the men's room as Prussia arrived, but other than that, he didn't run into anyone. All the stalls were empty, so he got to pick the one at the far end. He got his business done and was about to exit the stall, but it was at that exact moment that the door to the room was banged open. As the smash was followed by ranting, it wasn't at all difficult to guess who had just entered. 

This is just like last time, Prussia thought as he listened to Romano's muttered curses and Italy's attempts to get a word in. Maybe those two always came to solve their arguments in the men's room. Wordlessly, he sat down on the toilet seat and lifted his feet up so that nobody would see he was there.

“Calm down! I already said I was sorry! I didn't mean to make you all embarrassed!” Italy said.

“Stop following me! You're just fucking up everything.”

Prussia couldn't help but be surprised by Romano's tone. There was none of the rage he had come to expect from him when he was upset. He wasn't even really yelling. If anything, he sounded like he had just been told that Italy was losing to Germany in football and that there wasn't enough time to even the score.

“But how? I really don't think this is a problem because it would be so much better if Prussia knew that you like him!”

“I don't want him to know.”

“Why not? Are you afraid he won't like you back?”

“No, I –”

“Don't worry! I'm sure he likes you! And even if he doesn't, he's going to be nice when he says no.”

“Shut up, idiot! Haven't you seen the show he's been putting up around me lately? Of course he wouldn't say no.”

“Then what's the problem?”

Yeah, what's the fucking problem, Prussia agreed.

He heard Romano let out a frustrated groan. “I like things the way they are now.”

“Then why are you so unhappy?”

“It's... Dammit, stay out of this! I know what I'm doing. Don't ruin this for me by being so stupid.”

Prussia was hoping to hear more, but it seemed that Romano didn't want to tell even his own brother what was bothering him. The two of them might have exchanged a few more words, but Estonia arrived and effectively put an end to their conversation.

“It took you long enough,” France said when Prussia returned to him. “Problems with your stomach?”

“Yeah, right.”

“It's quite obvious you have problems with _something._ So, tell me all about it.”

Prussia made a vague gesture with his hand. “Why would anyone keep avoiding my advances? I mean, it's me we're talking about here!”

“You're going to have to be a little more specific than that, precisely because it's you. I could come up with a long list of reasons, and they would be different for each nation.”

“Okay, so then tell me why Romano won't just admit that that he wants me? I know he does because he didn't deny it when Italy brought it up. And he knows I want him. He said it himself! I thought he was being like that because he thought he wasn't good enough for me and was scared of rejection, but that's obviously not the case. So, what gives?”

Prussia didn't even try to hide how frustrated he was feeling and looked at France with an expectant frown. France claimed to be the expert in matters of love, so he had better have a really good explanation for this. If not, Prussia was sure his head would explode from trying to make sense out of everything.

“Are you sure you aren't just reading too much into things again? It wouldn't be the first time,” France said.

“I'm absolutely serious. I know we've got something here, but Romano doesn't even want to give it a go!”

It crossed Prussia's mind that maybe Romano was still upset about how he had taken his notebook without permission. He had nearly forgotten about that already, and he had assumed that Romano was over it, too. They had got along pretty well over the past few weeks. Romano didn't even yell at him like usual anymore.

“Well, have you told him that you want to give it a go?”

“Of course not!” Prussia said with an irritated growl. “You know what he's like. I figured he'd either run away or knock my teeth out if I made a move on him before he's ready.” That, and he could still remember the absolute fiasco that had taken place when he had marched to Romano's place with the sex toys. Romano had been so hurt that day. He didn't want to see that frightened look on his face ever again.

“Then I have just one suggestion for you,” France said. “Stop trying to figure him out from a distance. Tell him exactly what you want. If he wants the same thing, you'll work something out. If he doesn't... well, I'm sure he'll let you and everyone else in the building know.”

“You think that's going to work? Won't it just scare him off and make him withdraw more into himself?” Prussia asked.

“I am pleasantly surprised that for once you're thinking things over instead of just charging in, but I don't think it's going to get you anywhere this time. You aren't going to find out what Romano's problem is if you don't ask him. Relationships don't usually require elaborate strategies, not even with him.”

Prussia let out a thoughtful hum as he leaned back on his seat. Maybe France had a point. Maybe he really should just talk to Romano and see what happened. 

Yeah, that was worth a shot. Once they were alone in Rome and preparing the party, he would find the perfect opportunity.

***

“Hey, Romano!” Prussia called out when he saw the other about to enter the conference room. The meeting would resume in just a few minutes, and Prussia had been waiting outside the entrance to catch Romano as he was returning. He figured he might just as well start preparing for the great confession in Rome by improving the atmosphere between them. Asking Romano out for a drink later that evening was the perfect way.

“What?”

“I hope you don't have any plans for tonight because it would be a shame to cancel them. I'm asking you out to have a drink!”

“I don't know. I'm kind of busy,” Romano replied. He was avoiding Prussia's eyes, but Prussia got the feeling that this time it wasn't because he really wanted to say yes but couldn't bring himself to admit it. This time he seemed genuinely reluctant.

“Busy with what?”

“Weren't you listening to a word I and Veneziano said this morning? We've got a lot to do!”

“There's nothing you can do about it right now, so you should just forget about it for one evening. I can't believe I have to be the one to say this to you. Usually it's you Mediterraneans telling us to take it easy!”

“I can take it easy by going to bed early. I'm fucking exhausted, and the meeting isn't even over yet.”

Prussia wished he could have just grabbed him and taken him away so that they could finally deal with this, but he didn't dare repeat the stunt from the previous meeting. Germany would have his head if they disappeared again, and he might even decide to cancel the party.

“I can see right through you. Something's bugging you. Don't worry; a few drinks with me will solve all the problems that you have! And if not, I promise I'm buying again.”

“Sheesh, whatever. I'll think about it.”

The rest of the meeting was hell. Prussia had prepared a long list of jokes he could make during Austria's speech, but it turned out that the presentation was good. Really, really good. Austria's economy and credit rating weren't perfect, but they were better than what most of the nations in Europe had. He had concrete suggestions for improvement and plenty of personal examples of how to save money. It was all so well done that Prussia didn't even feel like laughing at the fact that Austria was still using Microsoft Office 2003 because he was too cheap to update.

He stopped following the presentation after a while and instead observed the other nations in the room. He momentarily locked eyes with France, and he was sure the slight smile on his face was aimed at him for doubting Austria's skills. Prussia decided to slip something English into France's glass next time they went drinking.

When he moved his eyes to Romano, he saw that he was busy writing something down on a piece of paper. At first Prussia assumed he was taking notes, but then he saw him fold the paper in two and slip it to Spain who was sitting by his side. Spain spent a moment reading it and began to write a reply on the other side.

Watching those two share secrets fuelled Prussia's irritation, so he started playing Minesweeper on his tablet. However, in his current state of mind he couldn't bring himself to concentrate enough to win even at the easiest setting, and if the meeting hadn't ended when it did, he would have probably ended up throwing the tablet at Austria's face.

Romano and Spain left the conference room together, further adding to Prussia's foul mood. As soon as he made it to his and Germany's hotel room, he tore off his tie and jacket and kicked his shoes under his bed in in protest.

“What's wrong?” Germany asked.

“Nothing. I'm just making a mess for fun.”

“You aren't usually so angry about it.”

Prussia wanted to laugh, but instead he just rolled over on his stomach and stared at his brother with tired eyes.

“This day just keeps getting shittier,” he said.

“I don't think it's going to improve if you just lie there.”

Prussia grunted and thought of something. “Hey, do you ever have communication problems with Italy?”

Germany paused what he was doing with his laptop and turned to look at him.

Prussia rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, stupid question, I know. Of course you do. So, what would you do if you wanted to start dating Romano but he was being a complete dick and kept sending you confusing signals?”

“I can't say that's something I've ever really thought about.”

“Well, I'm thinking about it a lot, but I can't find an answer! France thinks I should just talk to him, but what if he freaks out and runs away? I can't give you the details because I promised I wouldn't, but I've actually tried to make a move on him once before, and he totally flipped his shit.”

“Well, maybe you should think back to what happened and analyse the situation so that you'll find out what went wrong that time,” Germany suggested.

“I already know what went wrong. I had a brief lapse in awesome and did something I had no right to do. I promised I wouldn't do it again, but I guess he still hates me since he's being so difficult.”

At first Prussia thought Germany wouldn't say anything because he had returned his attention to his work, but then closed the lid and put the laptop aside.

“I can't really say I know Romano all that well, but in my experience, he's very... obvious about his hate. You've been on the phone with him every day since the previous meeting. I doubt he hates you.”

“Yeah, then why isn't this working?”

“Maybe you should do what France suggested.”

“I will, but I'll wait until we're in Rome. I figure a place where he feels safe is the best ground for this battle.”

Germany hummed in agreement and was about to add something, but that was when Prussia's phone let out a beep to indicate that he had received a message.

_Okay, I guess I'll go out with you after all._

“I wonder what changed his mind,” Prussia muttered and began to type a reply. To be honest, right now he would have rather got drunk and passed out under his bed while watching something stupid on the hotel channels, but he knew he would regret that plan the following day.

Once done, he tossed his phone on the bed. “I'm going out with him. Could you keep your dick out of Italy so that everyone can sleep in their own rooms? I'm not in the mood for bunking with Romano tonight.”

“Do you have to be like that?” Germany asked in an exasperated tone and opened the lid of his laptop once more, face suddenly a few shades redder. “If you can be this frank with me, I don't see why you can't do the same to Romano.”

Because he's not family, so he might ditch me, Prussia thought, but he knew better than to say it. It might make Germany think he was worried.

The bar Romano had suggested was close to the hotel, so they weren't the only nations there. Prussia waved hi to Ireland and Portugal as he entered and scanned the room to find Romano. After a while, he spotted him at one of the empty tables near the corner.

“Hey, what's up? I thought you'd be too tired,” he said as he sat down.

“I am, but I decided to come anyway.”

“Oh, I get you. You couldn't resist me.”

“...go and get yourself something to drink. I thought about ordering for you, but I didn't want to have to look at and smell your horrible beer while I waited for you.”

“You could have got me something else. Like liqueur. I can drink anything!”

“Just go already!”

Prussia soon returned to the table with a beer. Romano was sipping his wine and didn't say a word as he sat down. Prussia tolerated the silence for a little longer, but then he couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore.

“The plans are still the same? We're off to your place tomorrow, and the others come for the party on Saturday?”

“Yeah, unless I die from having to be alone with you for that goddamn long.”

“You'll be so amazed when you see how well I clean. I sometimes think I should go around everyone's house and surprise them by cleaning to show them how it's done.”

“At least that would give everyone an excuse to finally ban your ass from their countries.”

“Nah, but they might stop me at the customs when I'm trying to leave because they'd want to have me around forever to do all the cleaning. I'm seriously the best at it. I can keep things in perfect order when I feel like it.”

Romano snorted into his drink. “Then why do you slack off so much? I don't know how you managed it, but your side of the hotel room you shared with your idiot brother last time was a total mess. It was so disgusting I could barely sleep.”

“I don't have to maintain order anymore. It's West's job now. It's more fun to make a mess and see his reaction, but on special occasions I lend him a hand. Because he needs me. I taught him how to polish his boots and keep his musket clean, but he took all that too much to heart. Now it's my responsibility to bring some chaos into his life so that he won't choke on his own rules.”

“Little brothers are so fucking useless.”

“I don't know, I like dumping all the responsibilities on them so that I'll have more time to do my things. I mean...” Prussia drifted off, not sure if he wanted to continue with this line of thought. He had never really given much thought to the arrangement Italy and Romano had and didn't know the details of how they had come to share the country and how equal they were. He didn't normally bother being careful with his words, but he knew how touchy a subject like this could be.

“What? Are you still going to whine about how you don't like your new job?”

“No, actually, I was thinking about you and Italy. You always call him Veneziano. Does it bug you that everyone else calls him Italy?”

“No, I don't give a shit about what people call him,” Romano said swiftly and downed the rest of his wine. “Damn, these glasses are so stupidly small.”

He got up and left the table before Prussia could get a word in. Prussia couldn't help but think he was practising the Italy brothers' favourite battle technique, namely, running away when things got too much to handle. If just one question got under Romano's skin like that, maybe he should drop the issue.

And yet, he realised, this was something that he really needed to know.

“Okay, tell me one thing,” he said when Romano finally returned with a refilled glass. “Should I call him Veneziano, too? Because I can do that if you want.”

“You've been calling him Italy for centuries. Why the hell would you switch now?”

“Because you're my awesome new buddy, and I care about how you feel, duh! Just one word from you and the word Italy will never again pass my lips, I swear!”

Romano rubbed his thumb along the edge of his glass and lowered his eyes to his wine, but Prussia had the time to catch a glimpse of the look on his face before he did that. Indecision and temptation were written all over his features. Prussia was ready to smack himself over the head for not raising this subject sooner. He of all people knew how much names could matter.

“No.”

“Huh, what?”

“Keep calling him Italy,” Romano said before lifting the glass to his lips.

“Why? Wouldn't it make sense the other way around? You have Rome, so aren't you the more important half of the country?”

As soon as he was done with his words, he realised how illogical it was that Veneziano was the one everyone thought of when they spoke of Italy. There were times when people forgot that Romano even existed. How could that be when he had the capital and more land? Many of the stereotypical things people associated with Italy, both good and bad, were more prominent on his side. Romano had every right to claim the name Italy, and yet he didn't.

It couldn't be that he didn't want it. When Spain drank too much, he sometimes told Prussia about all of the regrets he had about the way he had raised Romano, about how he was sure he had made Romano think he wasn't loved for who he was but only for his land, about how obvious it had been that at one point, he would have rather had his brother. Romano should have been ecstatic that he was finally the more important one.

“That name sounds like shit. He can have it. I don't need it.”

“But he does, right? You have the capital, so if you had the name, too –”

“It's not like that! It's... It isn't like something's going to happen. This is how it's always been, and I see no reason to fight over some stupid name.”

Prussia knew Romano wasn't being honest with him. He could _feel_ it. He may not have understood anything about Romano in terms of their budding relationship (if it could be called that), but he knew what it was like when you wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to your brother. Maybe Romano was too stubborn to admit it, or maybe he wanted to deny the possibility that something could go wrong, but that didn't change the fact that he was willing to live in the shadows because his brother needed the light more.

“Wow, I never figured it could go that way around,” he said, not yet sure what to think. He had always thought that if there was going to be only one Italy one day, it would be Veneziano. Everyone thought that. But that had to be exactly what Romano wanted, no matter how much he hated it at the same time.

“It can't, so don't go spreading some stupid rumours or anything. I'm just being an idiot, like when I got you that crappy job,” Romano said.

“Yeah, like I want West to hear something like that. He'd go apeshit.” Prussia said and lifted his beer for a toast. “Those two don't even realise what awesome brothers they have.”

“Damn right.”

Prussia found that this time he wasn't bothered by the silence that followed. Usually he felt the need to fill the room with the sound of his own voice, but right now he was content with just sitting there and watching Romano over the table. The only thing that could have made it better was if they had been side by side on a couch instead so that he could have used him as a pillow.

Maybe they could do that once they had talked things over in Rome. Hell, in less than twenty-four hours, he could update his blog to announce that Romano was his boyfriend!

“And what the hell are you grinning about?” Romano asked.

“It's an awesome secret.”

“So it's something stupid.”

“No, it's great. I'll tell you later, and then there's going to be a huge grin on your face, too. From here to here,” Prussia said and reached over the table to draw his finger from Romano's right ear to the left.

Romano slapped his hand away. “Knock it off!”

Prussia laughed but did just that. Maybe he had learned something about him after all since he could tell this wasn't the right moment for teasing. Hell, he didn't feel up to it either.

It was now that he was looking at him in the dim light of the bar and imaged what it would be like if Romano wasn't there that he began to understand what Germany had tried to tell him earlier.

This wasn't a game. If Romano turned him down again, it would actually hurt him. He could brush it off with a laugh and tell everyone he was moving onwards to the next conquest, but he didn't want it to come to that. He wanted to be with Romano.

That probably meant he loved him, he figured with a somewhat unsettling weight in his stomach. The thought was exciting and frightening at the same time. He didn't fall in love often, and when he did, he never got to hold on to the people he loved for long. They tended to die because they were mortal, because they stopped being nations and faded away, or they married sissy pianists.

Prussia took a gulp of his beer. The thought of the following day filled him with the familiar anticipation that had always consumed him before he had ridden to battle. Back then, he had felt it through the heartbeat of his men. This time, the feelings were all his own.


	17. Chapter 17

Prussia took in the sight of Romano's house as they arrived after a walk from the bus stop. The previous time, he hadn't bothered to really look at it because his mind had been otherwise occupied, but this time he put down his suitcase and gazed up at the old building. The walls were painted an unusual salmon colour with every window and door framed by a line of white. All the wooden shutters were closed except for one upstairs.

“Fuck,” Romano swore when he spotted it. “I was sure I closed that damn thing. The whole place must be full of flies now.”

“My bird can eat them.”

“Can it even fly?”

“Sure he can! He just loves my hair so much that he can't be bothered most of the time.”

Romano let them in. Prussia was somewhat surprised to notice how pleasantly cool it was inside, probably because the closed shutters let so little light through. Or maybe it was the stone the house was made of. He could still remember how cold monasteries and castles could get even at summer.

“Dump your things wherever you like. I don't have a guestroom ready, so you're just going to have to deal with that until you've cleaned them,” Romano said.

“Not a single room? What do you do when someone comes over?”

“Veneziano is a total baby and sleeps in my room. Spain stays on the couch.”

Prussia had high hopes that he'd be staying in Romano's room that night, too, but for now he kept that to himself and didn't think about claiming the victory before the battle had been fought. First he'd do all the cleaning Romano wanted to make him happy, and then when they were both tired and content after eating something good, he'd tell him all about how he felt. At that point, it would be impossible to screw things up.

“Okay, so where do I start?” he asked. “Cleaning just one room is enough, right? I and West can share it.”

“What about everyone else? Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and that stupid France are coming, too.”

“Can't they go to a hotel?”

The look on Romano's face could only be described as scandalized. “Nobody stays in a fucking hotel when I'm the host! I have enough rooms. They just haven't been used in a long time, so they're grimy and full of junk. And it's your job to do something about that!”

“Relax, I promised I will. But what are you going to be doing in the meantime?”

“Cooking. I'm going to make the desserts today and leave the rest for tomorrow. It's already afternoon and I'm tired from all the stupid talking at the meeting.”

“What, so I'm going to have to clean all your crap when you're just putting whipped cream on a cake or something? That's a bit unfair.”

“You're the one who said you're the master of cleaning. It should be no problem to you,” Romano said, walking to the kitchen as he spoke. Prussia had no choice but to follow. He grimaced as they walked through the living room, recalling what had happened the last time he had been there.

“I think I'm going to need some kind of reward. Can I lick the spoon when you're done?”

Romano opened a cupboard and peered inside. “Maybe if you can get even one room to look like a human being could stay there.”

“You won't recognise them when I'm done!”

“I'll believe that when I see it. You've done nothing but bragged so far, so it's about time you showed me some results.”

“You're such a domestic monster,” Prussia said with a groan and hoped that Romano wouldn't be like that once they started dating. He already got pushed around at home by Germany, so he didn't need his boyfriend to do it, too.

“I'll listen to your complains after you've got something done,” Romano said as he searched another cupboard for a suitable bowl. He took one out and spent a moment inspecting it until he deemed it good enough. “And if I have nothing better to do, I might have made you something to eat by the time you're done.”

“That had better be a promise!”

Romano gave him the directions to where the guestrooms were. The house was larger than Prussia had thought, and he was beginning to think that promising to clean all of it might not have been a good idea after all. He had figured some light dusting would do and that he'd then spend the rest of the time romancing Romano, but it looked like he'd actually have to work before he got to that point.

He arrived at the door to the first room. “Okay, so he has been living like a pig for the last century or so, but how bad could it really –”

The door opened with a rusty screech and revealed such a large pile of junk that at first Prussia thought he had turned a wrong corner and ended up in Romano's garage. But then he spotted a very old bed from under the broken chairs, old shelves, bags of clothes and unidentifiable items that had been piled everywhere.

“Shit,” Prussia muttered and ran a hand through his hair. “That fucker totally duped me! He let me promise I'd clean for him because he knew what a mess this was!”

It was obvious that nobody would be able to sleep in the room if he didn't first throw out all the useless garbage that had taken over. He decided that he'd first move all the furniture to the living room and ask Romano which of it could be thrown out. Most of it was broken anyway, like the shelf that looked like someone had kicked it down the stairs in anger. Some could still be of use, though, like the old chair with some nice hand-made upholstering.

He began by moving the broken shelf as it was the closes to the door, but as he tried to turn it over, something fell to the floor with a clang.

“Hey, cool! A sword!”

Prussia picked it up eagerly, but as soon as he weighed it in his hand, he realised that it was a decorative sword not meant for real combat. It was still a nice piece, even if the years of having been left to collect dust had left their mark on it. He estimated it was from the 17th century or so and wondered if it was Romano's.

Stuff like that should be showcased, not left forgotten in a dumpster. He put it back and decided he'd ask Romano if he could polish it later.

Now that he had found the sword, he lost most of his eagerness to get the furniture out and instead began to poke around the room, looking for more interesting things. He opened all the bags, emptied their contents on the floor and looked into every chest, drawer and closet. He discovered piles of dusty books with the pages falling out, letters yellow with age, old photographs of people he didn't recognise, plenty of clothes that displayed the fashion of at least the last hundred years and countless other items.

There was a nice ring and a locket with someone's hair inside. He put them aside in a place where they wouldn't get lost. Since nations lived such long lives, they couldn't hold onto everything that they acquired over the years. Only the possessions with the most important memories could be kept. Prussia still had a paper knife that had belonged to Frederick.

Among the items was something large wrapped in fabric. Prussia unwrapped it with care and discovered that it was a painting of a man wearing a uniform and holding a sword. He had no idea who he was, but it was obvious enough that the painting was of someone important to Romano's history.

His phone let out a beep as he was putting the painting away. Germany had sent him a message, asking him if everything was alright.

Hah, silly West. He was probably afraid that Prussia would fuck things up. He should have more faith in his amazing brother, Prussia thought as he sent back a quick reply.

_Everything's perfect! Doing Romano's storage room cleaning for him._

Before Prussia could go back to work, he was alerted to the sound of nearing footsteps. Not soon after, Romano tried to open the door.

“Hey, I decided to come and see –”

The door hit the shelf that Prussia had placed near the entrance and wouldn't open. There was still just enough room for Romano to poke his head inside.

“What the fuck?” he snapped. “I thought you were going to clean here! You've just made a bigger mess!”

Prussia looked at everything that he had taken out and spread all over the floor and furniture.

“Sorry, it's just that all this stuff is so interesting! Why have you hidden it here? Look at that sword and that painting! They should be on your wall!”

“They're useless pieces of crap.”

“Okay, so then I can throw them away to make some room here?”

Panic momentarily flashed in Romano's eyes. “No! I mean, it's no problem. I can do it myself later. Let's just put them somewhere else for now.”

“I get it. You don't want to show these off for whatever stupid reason, but you don't have the heart to get rid of them either,” Prussia said with a laugh. He lifted the painting up. “Who's the guy in this anyway?”

“That's Ferdinand II.”

“Should that say something to me?”

“He was one of my kings, idiot!”

Right, Romano had once had his own kingdom, too. Prussia couldn't say he was very familiar with Italian history, but he did know that both of the brothers had had their own nations before they had united into the Kingdom of Italy.

“This is a bit embarrassing, but you're going to have to refresh my memory. What was your kingdom called again?”

Romano gave the door a powerful push and managed to move the shelf to create enough space for him to squeeze through. He shot an irritated glare at the state of the room and began to collect the scattered items back into the bags.

“That depends. I've never been just one specific nation. I'm South Italy, and I've had lots of nations, often several at the same time. It's the same for my brother. We've had so many countries on our lands that it's easy to lose count of them, so we just think of ourselves as two halves of Italy.”

“Huh, I didn't know that.” Then again, maybe it wasn't so strange. He had started out as an order of knights, so he knew from personal experience that there were more ways for their kind to exist than just one.

“It's not important,” Romano said and took the painting from him. He looked like he was about to put it away, but instead he stared at it for a long time, deep in thought, before placing it on the shelf.

“I think it would look great in the living room,” Prussia suggested.

Romano snorted. “Useless junk.”

“Just because it's in the past doesn't mean it's useless. Just look at my past! It's the best! I don't see why you should keep all this hidden here if it still matters to you.” Prussia nodded at the painting. “You should tell me something cool about that guy when we're done cleaning these rooms.”

“Like we're ever going to be done at this rate. We've got three more rooms to go, and you've just made a bigger mess instead of getting anything done!” Romano took one more look at the room before sighing in exasperation. “I guess I have no choice but to help you or you'll ruin everything. So much for being the best cleaner in the world.”

“It's not my fault you've got all these things here! I love looking at old stuff.”

Once they started working on moving out the extra furniture, they quickly managed to make the bedroom look semi-inhabitable again. There was a thick layer of dust everywhere, and they both agreed that the bed needed a new mattress and sheets before anyone could sleep on it.

“I can't imagine how you could have let such a mess develop here,” Prussia said as he eyed the room in distaste.

“It's my house and I can do whatever the hell I want with it!”

“But it's so... disorderly!”

“And you sound like your stupid brother when he's nagging at Veneziano. Cut it out!”

“No, I don't!”

“Yeah, you do! And now take these!” Romano tossed a bag full of old clothes at him. “Let's just take all of this crap to the basement for now. I'll sort it all out later and decide what goes to the trash and what stays.”

By the time they had cleared out all of the guestrooms, dusted them from top to bottom and mopped the floors, Prussia was sorely regretting ever claiming the title of the best cleaner in the world. He should have gone for the world's best pizza eater. Or the world's best lover.

“What are we going to do about the beds? If you're going to make everyone sleep on those flea-infested dirt bags, they're going to go to a hotel anyway, and then all this hard work would be useless,” he said as they stepped into the living room. He was covered in grime, so he was expecting Romano to voice an objection when he threw himself on the couch.

Instead, Romano collapsed right by his side, probably too tired to care that they were making a mess and sitting so close.

“We're going to buy new mattresses. And you're paying half of the price.”

“What? That's not fair! It's your house!”

“And this party was your idea! Without you, I wouldn't have to replace anything!”

“It's still not fair!”

“So? I need to save money.”

“Really, you're almost worse than Austria. It's like you were actually listening to his shit presentation yesterday and taking notes of his tips.”

Romano turned to glare at him. “What if I was? A lot of the things he said make sense.”

“Oh, please! He's Austria! He's totally useless. Good thing we decided not to invite him.”

“ _You_ decided not to invite him! And it's your fault Hungary is not coming.”

Prussia snorted and rolled his eyes. “Hey, I can't help that she's that attached to the loser. She'll see the light one day.”

“She's mad at you! You told her she couldn't bring 'that pianomanic pansy' with her.”

“You sound like you actually want Austria to be here!”

“I don't give a shit if he's invited or not, but you're acting like Austria is the cause of all of the world's problems.”

“Okay, maybe not all of them,” Prussia said grumpily, “but he sure is the cause of a lot of my problems! Didn't you see those glances he kept sending to my direction yesterday? He was mocking me all through his stupid presentation! The asshole is so smug that he's a nation and I'm not!”

“I don't –”

“All through our history, he has thought that he's better than me. He's not! I've always kicked his ass, even when I lost because I was the spiritual winner. But now that my name has been wiped off the map, he thinks that he has won! Just look at him, I bet he's so full of himself that he doesn't even see me as a threat anymore.”

“Of course he doesn't see you as a threat, you stupid!”

Prussia already had his mouth open to start another rant about all the reasons Austria sucked, but Romano's snap made him freeze. For a moment, he was unable to do more than stare at the other and try to process what he had said.

“Haha, because he's an idiot, right?” he asked, hoping that Romano was going to continue by stating that only stupid people like Austria lacked the sense to understand how amazing he was. But just looking at the expression in Romano's eyes told him that he was serious.

If Romano thought it was obvious that Austria didn't see him as a threat, then he probably didn't either. What if Romano thought that he was useless and behind times? Prussia knew a lot of people had to think that, but he had always figured that they were nations whose opinion didn't matter to him.

“I can't say I'm a fan of his, but Austria isn't an idiot,” Romano said. “He doesn't see you as a threat, and why should he? Nobody does!”

“Yeah, whatever, do you have any beer?” Prussia asked and jumped to his feet to go to the kitchen. He didn't want to hear any more about why Romano thought anyone wasn't taking him seriously. Knowing that Romano was on the prissy loser's side stung. After their earlier conversation and the realisation that he was looking out for Italy, he had thought Romano of all people would understand him.

“Wait,” Romano called out after him. “Stop acting like a baby! You keep saying that Austria thinks he's better than you, but it's pretty obvious that the only person who thinks that is you!”

“What?” Prussia asked with a bark of laughter. “Haven't you been listening to a word I've said? Why the hell would I think that Austria is better than me?”

“Because he's got a country and people and a girlfriend, and you just can't get over that! I'm sick of hearing you go on about how how you're so much better than Austria because if you really believed that, why would you have to say it all the time?”

“Because it's the truth!”

“I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. But you sound pretty damn frightened of the possibility that it isn't.”

“Fuck you,” Prussia snarled. “What the hell got to you now? I helped you clean your stupid house and you pay me back by telling me that I'm useless and pathetic and weak and –”

“Shut up! I didn't say that!”

Prussia had seen Romano angry plenty of times, but it was different now. His whole body was stiff and his eyes so bright with emotion that Prussia almost thought he would start crying. But he had no reason to cry. He was the one twisting the knife this time.

“To me it sounded a lot like you did.”

“No. I said that Austria has no reason to see you as a threat, and that's because nobody in Europe is a threat to anyone else anymore. Not you, not Austria, not France, nobody. As much as I think they're all a bunch of shitheads sometimes, Europe is a big, dysfunctional family now. It pisses me off that you're clinging to outdated crap when you don't have to.” Romano let out a sigh and glared straight at him in a way that made Prussia's heart thumb faster. “Can't you just get into your stupid head that you don't need to be a threat to anyone?”

Of course he had to, Prussia wanted to argue. What else was there? Throughout his whole existence, his worth had been based on his military and how strong he was. He didn't know other ways to think, and he wasn't sure he wanted to, even if he was now in a constant battle with himself because he no longer possessed any of the things that had once defined him.

“Who gives a fuck about shit that stopped being relevant almost a hundred years ago?” Romano asked in a tired voice.

“I do,” Prussia replied, walking back to the couch and reclaiming his place by Romano's side. It was easy for the others to move on when they had governments, economies, diplomacy and so much more to keep them busy. He wanted to say it, but he couldn't bring himself to admit something like that. It would just make him sound pathetic.

“Then stop. You've got to have something going for you since you're still here, but you're never going to find out what it is if you're obsessed with what Austria thinks about you.”

Prussia wanted to crack a joke at that or keep the argument going, but he found himself speechless before Romano's eyes. Nobody had looked at him like that in a long time. Not like he was a nuisance or to be pitied or a relic who was alive against all odds but like they were equals, like the fact that he was there was the most natural thing in the world.

Words were failing him, and he could no longer help himself. He reached out to slip his hand behind the back of Romano's head and leaned closer until their lips brushed against each other. Romano hadn't made a sound and wasn't protesting, so Prussia dared to deepen the kiss and pry open the other's mouth.

All of his carefully scripted confessions were gone from his mind. He no longer had the capacity to think about anything but how warm Romano was against him and how his skin tasted salty because they had been working for so many hours.

Romano let out a muffled groan and pulled away from him. “What... what the hell are you doing?” he asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

“What does it look like?” Prussia asked and tried to dive in for another kiss, but Romano turned his head away.

“Yeah, well, cut it the fuck out because –”

“Aww, don't be like that again! It's going to work out this time! I want you, and I know you want me, so what's the problem?”

“What?”

“Yeah, I know that you still have the hots for me. I heard what you said to Italy in the men's room yesterday and –”

“Have you been stalking me, you fucker?”

“No! I just happened to be there, so I decided I'd take the chance to find out what's going on with you. I've been trying to figure you out all this time, but you're just so impossible. I don't understand what's going on in your head at all.”

Romano shoved him away and jumped off the couch. “All this time? What the fuck, you promised me you wouldn't try anything again! I thought you just wanted to be my friend! You lied to me the whole time to get into my pants!”

“No, no, that's not it! I didn't lie about anything!”

“Yeah, like I'm going to believe a guy who first steals my private journal, keeps it as his fap material, thinks I'll sleep with him just because, fakes an apology and tells me it was a mistake but then keeps manipulating me into trusting him and tries the whole damn thing all over again!”

Oh, fuck, this was going straight to hell again, Prussia realised. He really should have stuck to his original plans.

“Romano, come on. I do want you. For real.”

“Oh, I have no trouble believing that, asshole. But I have standards, and you're below them.”

“What? But you said –”

“It doesn't matter what I said to Veneziano! I told you before that I don't want this, and you wouldn't listen!”

“But –”

“Just get the fuck out.”

It was the defeated tone of Romano's voice that made Prussia swallow the rest of his arguments. He wanted to tell him that he was wrong, but he suddenly didn't know what to think anymore. Just a moment ago, he had been so sure that Romano would accept him, but now he was telling him that he didn't want him. He couldn't bear to hear that, not after he had been so sure everything would work out.

“What about the party?” he asked.

“I'm going to tell everyone it's cancelled.”

“But won't you at least let me explain? Because you've got everything totally wrong. I didn't want to –”

“I don't want to hear another word out of you. Get out of my house or I'm calling the cops. It's not like you could resist them because a loser without a country doesn't have diplomatic immunity!”

“Fuck,” Prussia muttered, trying to ignore how deep mere words could cut. “Fine, if that's what you really want! But I'm warning you, this is your last chance! Because after this, I'm not even going to glance at you, and then one day you'll realise what a great catch you lost, but then it's going to be too late!”

He wasn't entirely sure what happened after that, but later when he was sitting on the bus to the airport, he faintly recalled slamming the door of Romano's house shut and kicking the front steps in irrational anger before marching away. The throbbing pain in his toes certainly supported that memory.

Even though he was exhausted from the morning's meeting, the flight to Rome and all the cleaning, he was planning to catch a late flight back home. He couldn't stay in this country anymore, especially on Romano's half of it. Every breath he took made him feel like he was choking on his feelings.

A couple of hours later, he wrenched open the door to Germany's house and stomped past his bewildered brother who needed almost twenty seconds to find his voice.

“Prussia, what are you –”

“Not now, West!”

He had kept himself more or less together on the way back to Germany, but as he stepped on the stairs leading down to the basement, he wondered if it was okay for manly men to bury their face into their pillow and cry. He hoped yes because that's what he felt like doing.

However, all such thoughts soon left his mind when he realised that there was a man dressed in a toga sitting on his bed and reading his porn magazines.


	18. Chapter 18

At first Prussia couldn't do much more than stare at the man, not sure whether he was imagining him or not. But no matter how long he waited and how many times he blinked, he didn't disappear. He had to be real, then, he gathered. And once he accepted that fact, he was able to take in a couple of details.

First of all, the man's attire. Prussia couldn't name many people who might walk around wearing a toga in this day and age. Secondly, the uncanny resemblance to Romano, even if this man was taller and bulkier. Thirdly, the fact that he had somehow made it inside the house without alerting either Germany or the dogs. It was obvious who he was, and yet Prussia felt the need to ask.

“Who the hell are you?”

At this, the man finally looked up from the issue of the German Playboy he was reading.

“Finally!” he declared and threw the magazine aside. “Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you? But never mind, let me take a look at you!”

The man was instantly on his feet and advanced at Prussia with such speed that even if he hadn't been so bewildered, he wouldn't have been able to do much of anything. The stranger placed his hands on Prussia's shoulders and stared at him. He lifted Prussia's chin up to get a different angle of his face and tested the texture of his hair between his fingers. When those hands began to travel down his arms and groping him, Prussia finally reclaimed control over his limbs and staggered away.

“Hey, what the hell?” he snapped.

“Hmm, could do with a bit more muscle, but otherwise a very good choice!”

“You still haven't told me who you are, you asshole!”

“Who do you think? I'm the Roman Empire! Everyone should know who I am!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know who you are,” Prussia said and tried to process the fact that the mightiest empire in history had decided to drop by for a visit. “But why are you here?”

Rome made an irritated sound at the back of his throat. “Honestly? Because I can no longer stand to watch you make a pitiful mess of everything. I've come to give you some tips on love and sex before it's too late.”

“If someone here needs relationship counselling, it's Romano!”

“No, no! Romano takes after me. He doesn't need advice in bed. He's a natural-born talent!” The laughter in Rome's eyes faded somewhat as he paused. “You, on the other hand... Give me a break!”

“I don't need advice!” Prussia snapped, mortified by the very thought. “I'm great! Ask anyone!”

Rome shook his head. “Don't take it so hard. It's not your fault. It either runs in the family or not, and in your case, it very much doesn't. That's why I'm here to set a few things straight before you screw up for good.”

Rome grabbed Prussia's shoulders again, led him to the bed and made him sit down. Prussia didn't know if he should have put up a fight or not, but a major part of him didn't want to object when the Roman Empire asked him to do something. As big as his ego was, even he didn't have it in him to claim to be better than him.

“How do you even know what's going on?” he asked.

“Because I've been watching. Come on, you can't expect me to just stand by and not keep an eye on things when either of my boys is trying to get serious with someone! I didn't want to interfere, but in this case I feel like it's my responsibility to stop this chariot from crashing.”

“But why now and here? Why not before?”

“I didn't realise how bad it was until your performance today. And as for why here...” A wistful look momentarily crossed Rome's eyes. “Romano is taking such good care of my city, but it's so different from how I remember it. And I've always liked to go to new places, so I thought this pathetic little basement here was perfect!”

“It's not pathetic,” Prussia objected, just a tad insulted. The basement was the only place in all of Germany that his brother didn't want to claim as his. It may not have been the most amazing location in the world, but dammit, it was his, and he had made the most of it. It was the best fucking basement in the world.

“Yes, whatever. But now we'll start with the basics of sex and relationships part one!”

“I don't need this! I'm not a virgin! I know how it goes! I have a lot of experience!”

Rome let out a long sigh and came to sit by Prussia's side on the bed. “A lot of your experience is with yourself. Now, masturbation is all fine and good, but it _is_ a little sad if that's all you get. But don't worry,” he said, giving Prussia's thigh a few encouraging pats, “We'll fix that up for you in no time!”

“I sure hope that after this, you're going to give Romano a crash course on how not to be a complete asshole!”

The smile on Rome's face vanished at once. “Now listen here! My boys are perfect, so it's never their fault when something goes wrong! You had better keep that in mind if you want this to go anywhere.”

If anything, Romano sure had cooked a perfect mess. Maybe Prussia could have been a bit less straightforward, but Romano had had no reason to flip his shit like that. It was entirely his fault that things had turned sour, but Prussia didn't think it would be wise to say that in the current company. Dead or not, he didn't want to piss off the Roman Empire.

Rome jumped back to his feet. “Anyway, back to business! First I'm going to tell you about the two kinds of sex.”

“You mean... vaginal and, uh... anal or...?

Prussia couldn't help but squirm in discomfort. He always talked big and had no problems being crude, but that was mostly for show. Trying to have an actual, serious discussion about his sex life filled him with embarrassment that he had thought he had left behind the day he had stopped being Catholic.

“No! I mean casual and serious. Casual is when you just do it with someone for the fun of it and serious is when there are feelings and commitment involved,” Rome explained, making illustrative gestures with his hands as he spoke. “I'm not saying that one is better than the other because they're both really satisfactory in their own way, but the important thing is that everyone involved needs to know which type of sex they're having. Believe me, it gets awkward in the morning when someone expects more commitment than the other wants to give.”

“I don't see how this is in any way relevant to my situation.”

“No wonder you two aren't seeing eye to eye. You're as thick as a short plank. The point I'm trying to make is that you never made it clear which of the two types you were proposing, so my poor Romano got confused because he's not yet as experienced at reading you Germanic types as I and his brother are.”

“What, wasn't it obvious what I wanted? Why does he think I endured all his bitching for that long if I just wanted to do him once? The reward would so not be proportionate to the trouble!”

Rome placed his hands on his hips and shot him a stern glare. “You should have told him what you were after. Maybe he overreacted just a little, but that's just because he thought you were only interested in a quick little affair. Which, you have to admit, isn't that strange of a conclusion since Romano has inherited my incredible looks and charm, so I'm sure he gets that all the time.”

Prussia was quiet for a moment. He hadn't considered that possibility before. He had known from the start that Romano wanted something more than a few good rounds in bed since his stories had been full of mush, and he had figured that his intentions had been clear from the start, too. Or at least after they had put the first fiasco between them and had started developing an actual relationship. Didn't any of that count in Romano's mind? Did he really think it was just a ruse to trick him to bed?

“Man, he sure thinks I'm a total shithead,” he muttered, more than a little offended. “If he thinks I'd do that, why does he want to be with me anyway? I wouldn't date myself if I was like that.”

“That's what you're going to have to ask him,” Rome replied. “I'm only here to give you some tips so that you won't screw up again when you go back.”

“Okay, so what's next on the list?” Prussia asked. Maybe this would actually be useful. After all, Rome was Romano's grandfather. Surely he understood him perfectly and could tell him about all the intricacies of dealing with him.

“To be honest, I don't really have much else to say. But I can give you some sex tips if you have anything to ask.”

“So, that's it? You came all the way from –” Prussia trailed off, realising for the first time how unique the situation was. He was talking to the Roman Empire, one of the greatest nations in history and one who had disappeared centuries ago. He might never meet him again after this.

“Actually, yeah, there is something I want to know.”

Rome smiled and nodded in understanding. “Of course there is. Granpa Rome will tell you everything! Ask about toys, positions, orgies, mind-altering substances... I know all there is to know.”

“Okay, so what happens to nations who disappear?”

“Hm?”

“I mean, I don't waste my time wondering about stuff like that, but I figure that West and all my countless friends might feel more at ease if they knew, hahaha. Like, are there any signs that tell you that it's soon time to go?”

The eager expression on Rome's face wavered only for a moment. “You know, your brother once asked me the same question. You're a nosey bunch, aren't you? Why would you want to know that? That's not something the living need to concern themselves with.”

“But –”

“No, no, don't bother. You've got bigger things to worry about right now, like how you're going to wrap my adorable grandson around your little finger after that fiasco you caused today.”

Prussia swallowed a comment about how it wasn't entirely his fault and wondered if he should take Rome's evasion as a good sign or not. At least he still counted among the living, so that was a plus, he figured. And since Rome obviously cared a lot about Romano, surely he wouldn't be trying to set him up with someone who could drop dead at any moment? Yeah, he was probably safe.

“In fact,” Rome continued, “you should go back to Rome right now and apologize to him.”

“Now?” Prussia asked and took out his phone to check the time, only to see that he had forgotten to turn it on after the flight. When he did so, he quickly got a notification that someone had tried to call him. He didn't know whether to be surprised or not that it was Romano. 

He turned his eyes from his phone. “It's past midnight. No way am I going to –”

The room was empty. For a moment, Prussia kept clutching at his phone and wondering if he had only imagined the bizarre conversation. But the porn magazine was still where Rome had tossed it, and the more he thought about it, the surer he became of the fact that he couldn't come up with something like that if he wasn't drunk.

“Let's see what he's got to say for himself,” he muttered and chose Romano's number. He waited over half a minute, but there was no answer. Fuck, now Romano was being difficult again.

Should he go back to Italy after all? Now that he had had some time to calm down, he could maybe understand why Romano had reacted the way he did. It still didn't excuse it, and he was expecting an apology the next time they met, but he was willing to be reasonable. If they could finally talk about what was going on between them, maybe there was still a chance.

He doubted he could still catch a flight to Rome, but maybe Germany could arrange him a private one if he managed to convince him that this was an emergency. With this thought in mind, he went back upstairs to see if his brother was still awake or if he should kick him out of bed.

Luckily enough, Germany was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and reading a Thomas Mann novel. Since Germany never read in the kitchen (the thought of getting crumbs on his books terrified him), Prussia could only assume that he was there to keep an eye on him due to his angry return from Rome. 

Germany looked up when Prussia entered and took off his reading glasses. “You look upset. What's wrong?”

“West! You'll never believe what just happened! The Roman Empire came to see me and... wow.” Prussia trailed off, not sure if even he could find words to what it was like to meet such a legend. “I have to go now.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I need to –” He never finished because it was at at that moment that he registered the horrified look on Germany's face. “Italy. I'm going back to Italy to talk to Romano,” he clarified.

“Oh. I thought that... Maybe...”

“Hahaha, did you get worried about me again? I really pity you, West. It must be difficult when your head is so thick that you just don't get that I'm still in my prime! Anyway, can you call someone and get me a flight to Rome?”

Germany relaxed visibly, but there was still a wary frown on his face.“Right now? Can't it wait until tomorrow?”

“No, this is serious! I and Romano sort of had a fight because he's stupid, so the old man came to tell me that I have to go back and fix it since I'm the only one amazing enough to do it. You wouldn't say no to the Roman Empire, would you?”

“Yes, I would. My opinion of him took somewhat of a nosedive after I met him in person,” Germany said. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “But I suppose I can't say no to my brother when he needs something, even if you've given me at least a hundred years' worth of grey hairs tonight alone.”

“Thanks, you're the second best! And while you're at it, call everyone and tell them that the party isn't cancelled in case Romano told them it is.”

Prussia didn't know what Germany said to pull a few convenient strings to get him a flight in the middle of the night, and he didn't care to. All he wanted to do was to polish his plans of getting through to Romano because he had the feeling that there would never be another chance if this went wrong. However, he fell asleep almost right after settling onto his seat and didn't wake up until they had landed in Rome and the pilot was shaking his shoulder and telling him to get off the plane.

“Crap,” he muttered as he rubbed his eyes and fumbled for his phone so that he could call a taxi. It was three in the morning, and he was exhausted and had no idea what he was going to say when he saw Romano again. If he even got a word in because he had the feeling that Romano wouldn't be happy to be bothered at this hour, but fuck it, he wasn't going to wait.

The street was deserted when he arrived at Romano's house. The nearest street light was a good distance away, so he couldn't see if the shutters were open on any of the windows. He might have tried to climb in if they were, but as it was, he had no choice but to ring the doorbell. 

No response. Prussia tried again and again.

“Hey, Romano!”

He started banging on the door to make some more noise.

“Come on! Wake up! It's me!”

A light appeared, but unfortunately it was in the window of the neighbour's house.

“What the hell is going on down there?”

Prussia ignored the angry man and kept abusing the door. There was a smash as something that was thrown at him from the window shattered, but thankfully the neighbour had a terrible aim, and none of the shards hit him.

“Some of us are trying to sleep! Shut up or I'm calling the cops!”

Prussia finally turned towards the man. “You shut up! I've got important business going on here!” With that, he returned his attention to the door. “Romano, I'm sorry! Let me in!”

A few more lights were turned on in the windows of the surrounding buildings. 

“Who the fuck is it down there?”

“You had better let him in this very second, Vargas!”

Finally, by the time the neighbours were causing more of a ruckus than Prussia could have ever accomplished by himself, the door was finally opened.

Romano looked like a mess. He had clearly been in bed when the whole scene had started since he was only wearing a bathrobe that had been hastily thrown over his shoulders and tied around the waist. His hair was a tangled lump, and there was a bleary look in his eyes that showed just how tired he was, though Prussia was willing to bet a small fortune on that he had been crying, too.

“You had better let me in or your neighbours will never talk to you again,” he said before Romano could tell him to fuck off.

Romano weighed the options for a moment before stepping aside and letting Prussia come inside.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked as soon as he had closed the door again.

“I want to talk. And so do you since you tried to call me.”

“No, I didn't. I was trying to call Barbados, but my finger slipped and I chose your number instead.”

“But she and I shouldn't be anywhere near each other on your contact list!”

“I have your number under 'Bastard'!”

Prussia suppressed the desire to groan. “Listen, I didn't come here to fight. I want to talk about what happened, and then I want you to answer a few questions for me. Because you have such a wrong idea about everything that I don't know what kind of fucked up imagination you have.”

“Oh, yeah? This had better be good then,” Romano said and threw himself on one of the armchairs in the living room. He crossed his arms on his chest and glared at Prussia with an expectant glare.

“Okay, first of all, I guess I haven't been clear enough about what I want. I thought all the dinner dates and phone calls and stuff was obvious enough, but it turns out I was wrong. So, here goes. I want you.”

“Yeah, we've established that much, idiot.”

“No, I mean I want _you._ You, as in hanging out with you and talking about crap and shopping for matching T-shirts and whatever.” Prussia shifted his feet and wished he could be doing something easier, like trying to take over an invincible fortress with everyone but him on his side dead. 

“What?”

“You know, a relationship. I know you've got that messed up idea that I'm only after sex, and we're going to talk about that later, but for now I just want you to know that all this time, I've been after you and nothing else.”

Okay, the promise of awesome sex had been a part of it, but only a part, and he figured it wasn't a strategically good move to mention that now.

“Yeah, right! Like I'm going to believe that just because you say it!”

“Why the hell not? What more can I do?” Fuck, how could anyone be this difficult? What was he supposed to do? It wasn't as if he could prove something like that, right? Or maybe he could. “Wait, I've got this! If sex is such a problem to you, we can just never have it!”

“What?” Romano asked after a confused pause.

“Yeah, it's perfect! I used to be a Catholic order. I can ace celibacy like you wouldn't believe!”

“That... that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard!”

“Well, what choice do you leave me? The thing is, I really want to be with you. It wasn't like that in the start when I stole your notebook, and not really even when I came to see you, but the more I get to know you, the more awesome you become. Normally, I'd say it's just my influence since we've been spending a lot of time together, but you're pretty awesome all on your own. So, come on. If you won't give me a chance, at least give me a good reason for it.”

It was a while since he had last felt that vulnerable. All the power was in Romano's hands now, and he could ground him to dust whenever he wanted. Just a few words, and his heart would be broken. He hated making himself such an easy target, but at the same time, he knew that he had to get this out if he wanted to stay sane.

Romano had grown quiet and was staring at the carpet. When he finally turned to look at Prussia again, there was a defeated look in his eyes.

“I shouldn't believe you,” he said. “I'm just going to get screwed over, but, hell, it's been a while since I've heard anyone sound so pitiful. I guess you aren't that good of an actor.”

“And where does that leave us?”

“I don't know. You tell me.”

“First you're going to tell me a few things. For starters, where did you get this idea that I only wanted to use you? In the beginning, sure, but after everything that has happened, your reaction today was totally unreasonable! And that had better be a good explanation because there's a limit to how much shit I can take.”

Romano squirmed on his seat. “It's a combination of things, but mostly it's your blog.”

“What? What's wrong with it?”

“Your constant bragging about your amazing sex life for one thing. Just look at the 'awesome me got laid again' tag! At least once a week, you post an account of how you picked up some human, spent a wild night with them and how you're so happy they kicked you out at six in the morning because you hate commitment and just want sex.”

“I can explain that,” Prussia said at once. His brain went over a few really believable scenarios, but finally he decided to try the truth. “But you're going to have to promise that you won't tell anyone, okay? Not that anyone would believe you, but... Anyway, here goes. A lot of those stories deviate a little from the truth.”

“In what way?”

“In the way that no wild sex happened, and I was just playing WoW in my room.”

“...you're kidding.”

“Yeah, hard to believe, isn't it, what with my awesome body and all that? And when I did score with someone, it wasn't all that great to be dumped in the morning, but I didn't want anyone to think I was a loser, so I made up a few things.”

Romano buried his face into his hands. “I can't believe I'm hearing this shit! You're the biggest dumbass in the whole fucking world!”

“I've got an image to maintain! Everyone who knows me from centuries ago would think I've lost it if I didn't post about my escapades regularly. It's not like I can write about war these days, so I figured sex would be the next best thing.”

“Why don't you post about your stupid video games if that's all you do?”

“That's not all I do! Just because my blog has a few stories with some alterations doesn't mean that I have an inactive sex life! Besides, I haven't posted anything about sex in at least a month. You must have noticed since you keep such close attention to what I write.”

“I did, but I figured it was just part of your plan to get me.”

“Fine, you think I'm a total asshole. Have you ever actually had any feelings for me at all? If yes, why? Because I wouldn't want to date the guy you thought I was.”

Romano puffed his cheeks in irritation. “Do you think I would have made such a big deal out this if I didn't? It's just... I started noticing you a long time ago. I didn't want to waste my time thinking about you, but you just never shut up and always get involved in everything. Even though I didn't want to, I had to deal with you because Veneziano is dating your stupid brother, and I figured you came with the package.”

“And then?”

“And then I had to tolerate you. But you just couldn't remain the muscle head's idiot brother, you had to go and make things difficult for me. Like every time you'd get that look on your face when Veneziano didn't even notice you because he was fawning over his pet potato.”

“So, you pitied me. Great.”

“No, I hated you. You were just an idiot who wanted to get into my brother's pants, so I didn't want to think we had anything in common. But we did, and by the time I realised that it was already too late. You had fucking tricked me into liking you!”

“We would have been saved all this trouble if you had just told me!”

Romano let out a snort. “Y-yeah, right. You were the biggest asshole I had ever met. I knew it wouldn't work, so I figured I'd just keep it to myself and wait for it to pass because I'd rather not have you at all than only have you for a moment before you dumped me.” He made a flippant gesture with his hand and turned his eyes away. “Almost made a mess of that, too, when you first waltzed here with all those big ideas.”

“Yeah, speaking of that, why didn't you change your mind when I backed off that time? That should have proven that I wasn't like you thought.”

“I... I just didn't, okay?” Romano snapped. “Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm not the most open person with my feelings. It was just a lot easier to keep thinking that you're no good because then I had an excuse to stay quiet and not take any risks.”

Prussia sighed and collapsed on the couch. In a rare moment of self-reflection, he had no choice but to admit that he and Romano were both damned losers who had made a complete mess of what should have been such a simple matter, especially to beings that were hundreds of years old. Or maybe the fact that nations could screw up this bad just proved how love was still one of the great unsolved mysteries of humanity.

The clock struck five, and Prussia realised just how tired he was. Not only from everything that had happened the previous day but from trying to make sense of the conversation they had just had. He wanted to laugh but didn't have the energy, so he had to settle for a crooked grin.

“What's so funny, bastard?”

“Nothing.” Prussia rubbed his eyes. Damn, he needed some time to digest all this before he could decide what he wanted to do next. “I hate leaving things unfinished, but any chance we could continue this in the morni – okay, after a few hours of sleep? Right now my though processes may not be as smooth as normally.”

Romano nodded. “Yeah, sure.” Then he paused to think. “The guestrooms don't have new mattresses yet.”

“Oh. I guess I'll take this couch, then.”

“Yeah, do that.”


	19. Chapter 19

Prussia slowly became vaguely aware of his surroundings and the fact that his left arm was hurting. It took him a few more moments to grow awake enough to realise that it was because said arm was in an uncomfortable position under his body. After coming to that realisation, he tried to roll to his side, only to discover that he was not in his bed like he thought but on a couch that wasn't wide enough for such a manoeuvre. 

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered as he landed on the floor. He sat up and squeezed his eyes shut against the light pouring in through the windows (funny, he could have sworn all the shutters were closed the previous night) and took in the situation.

A glance at the large clock told him that it was a little over nine. He had slept only for a couple of hours, but he already felt considerably more alert. He supposed he hadn't lost his edge just because there was no need for him to survive on little sleep these days. 

He stretched his back and wondered if Romano would have a fit if he made use of his shower. He hadn't taken off any of his clothes before falling asleep, and he hadn't had the chance to freshen up after they had cleaned the guestrooms the previous day.

Before he could make up his mind about that, he realised that there was a faint scent of coffee drifting from the kitchen. That put his priorities in the right order, and he made his way out of the room in search of something to fill his stomach with.

Romano was in the kitchen, holding a small cup of coffee and staring out the window. He turned to look when Prussia entered. He didn't say anything, but Prussia could feel his displeasure at his crumpled attire. Romano, in contrast, looked ready to enter a fashion show.

“Got some more of that coffee?” Prussia asked.

Romano nodded towards a small, silvery pot on the stove. “Have at it.”

All of the cups in Romano's cupboard were too tiny for Prussia's taste, but he didn't complain, partly because he didn't want to start a fight and partly because there couldn't be much coffee in the pot in the first place. He just didn't understand the way Italians had their coffee.

He took a seat opposite Romano. “Anyway, about yeste –”

“I'm sorry.”

Huh, that wasn't the way he had figured they would resume their conversation.

“About what?”

“What do you think, idiot? About how I made a craptastic mess of everything and acted like there was a conspiracy going on against me!” Romano put down his cup, now empty, so that he had both of his hands free for some wild gesturing that Prussia couldn't even begin to comprehend. “I should have just ignored the fact that you potato lovers are always a complete waste of space. I shouldn't have doubted you, and I should have given you a chance.”

“Well, of course you should have!” Prussia said, but upon seeing how irritated Romano looked, he swiftly continued, “But, uh, I guess it makes sense considering the circumstances. I mean, you said you didn't want me to dump you right away, and of course you wouldn't because this is me.”

“And then there are moments like this when I almost feel like I was guided by the saints because being in a relationship with someone like you must be the worst headache in the whole damn world.”

“Hey, I could throw that right back at you! I have never met anyone who is as difficult to understand as you. I feel like I need a book just to get what you mean half of the time. But –” Prussia was about to pause here to have another gulp of his coffee, but he realised that his cup was empty. He was about to get up for a refill, but Romano's voice stopped him.

“You've had enough coffee. Don't you dare have more because I'm not dealing with you all day long if you get hyper.”

Maybe Romano had a point. Prussia had seen what happened to Germany when he had accidentally had too much Italian coffee because he was used to drinking larger amounts of it. Maybe he should switch to tea for as long as he was staying in Rome because he just wasn't happy with drinking so little.

“You were going to say something,” Romano pointed out. He was scowling, and his lips had formed an unhappy pout, but Prussia didn't miss the nervous way his fingers kept tapping the table.

“Yeah, yeah, that's right. Like I was saying, being together with you would probably be like trying to decipher foreign military codes without a key. What a pain in the ass.”

Romano clenched his jaw and leaned back on his seat. “Well, if that's what you think, you know where the fucking door is!”

“But,” Prussia pressed on, “I like challenges. I figure that being with anyone else would be just so easy for someone like me that I'd grow bored in a week! So, what do you say we forget all about yesterday and start over today like nothing ever happened, except that this time we're going to be cleverer and not fuck things up?”

“What, you still want to?”

“Sure, why not? If getting yelled at and kicked out was enough to make me cut my ties with someone, I wouldn't have any friends anymore.”

Romano crouched to lean his elbows on the table. “Fuck, I guess that if everyone did that, then I wouldn't have any friends either.”

“And about what you said about not wanting to have me only for a moment, well... I can't say it would be forever because that's kind of a stretch for beings like us, but how does as long as we can possibly make it last sound to you?”

“I suppose that's fair enough.”

“So?”

“So...”

“Are we a couple now or what?”

“I... I guess so.”

Romano's face had grown such a deep shade of red that Prussia was afraid he'd pop a vein, but he couldn't really blame him. He was feeling kind of funny, too, in a wobbly sort of way that made him want to stretch his legs and run to the balcony to yell at all the neighbours that the commotion the previous night had been worth it.

“So, what's going to be the first thing we do as a couple?” he asked.

“We're going to buy those stupid mattresses, and then we're going to cook until sunset because otherwise there's going to be nothing to eat tomorrow when the others arrive.”

“Oh, right, I was meaning to tell you that I asked West to tell everyone that the party isn't cancelled after all.”

“That's just as well. I didn't tell anyone it was cancelled because then Spain and Veneziano would have stormed here to ask what went wrong, and I just didn't feel like dealing with them.”

“Okay, cool. But I should probably warn you that I only cook things with potatoes in them. Just so you know.”

“Whatever. Like I'd ever let you try to make pasta or any of my other food. Potato dishes are inedible garbage anyway, so at least it won't matter if you screw up.”

“You'll love my potato pancakes when I make you try them.”

“As if! I'm never putting anything like that in my mouth.”

“Well, what about this, then?” Prussia asked and leaned over the table to grab Romano's face and pull him into a kiss. Romano made a surprised sound at the back of his throat but didn't object when Prussia pried open his mouth. He soon relaxed into the kiss, and Prussia was pleasantly taken aback by the things he could do with his tongue when he was actually into the whole thing.

When they pulled apart, they were both a little short of breath.

“...I guess buying mattresses would have been a totally lame way to start a relationship anyway,” Romano muttered.

***

But they really needed those mattresses, so as soon as Prussia had had some more breakfast than a cup of coffee, they hopped on Romano's Vespa and drove to a store that sold furniture. Romano's driving and disregard for traffic rules were entirely at odds with Prussia's Germanic principles, and by the time they arrived at the store, he was hanging onto Romano's waist, not because he wanted to be affectionate but because he didn't want to die.

“Stop being so clingy. We weren't even close to hitting that car,” Romano said as they stopped and Prussia could mercifully place his feet on solid ground again.

“It was close enough for me to get flashbacks to how I was formed in Acre.”

“Fucking wuss,” Romano muttered, but Prussia couldn't hear any real malice in his voice. That was probably as cutesy as pet names with Romano ever got.

“This is such a waste,” Romano said as they were comparing the prices. “I can't believe I'm buying so many mattresses just because a bunch of losers is coming over. I bet they'll go completely unused after this, and then they will rot like the old ones and I'm going to have to buy more after fifty years!”

“Hey, I'm paying for half of them, remember? Stop complaining and enjoy shopping. Think of this as redecorating to celebrate your new life as a committed man.”

“If this is your idea of celebrating, your taste is more disastrous than I thought.”

“Okay, another try. How about I buy you an ice cream once we've got this done?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is my city, so I'm buying.”

After they decided on the mattresses and asked them to be delivered to Romano's house later that day, Romano took him to a café that he said served the best ice cream (other than the one he made himself, but he had none in the freezer right now). Prussia was certain he was driving slower this time. He even stopped at a red light. Now Prussia could hold onto him because it was nice, not because he had to.

He let Romano pick the ice cream portion for him since he was the expert and since he was pretty sure he'd like just about anything. As they were waiting for their orders to be brought to them, he couldn't help but smile as he thought of something.

“What's so funny?” Romano asked.

“I just realised something great.”

“What's that?”

“If you had feelings for me even when you thought I was a total asshole, now that you know I'm an awesome guy, you're going to worship the ground I walk on. I can't wait!”

Romano shot him a not so amused look. “Oh, yeah? And what exactly are you expecting me to do?”

“I don't know. You could start by feeding me my ice cream. I'll think of something else later.”

“No way. I'm not doing cutesy crap like that in public.”

“What about in private?”

“Depends on whether I'm in a good mood or not.”

That was probably when he was scowling a little less and wasn't calling him a fuckhead, Prussia figured. In the beginning of this whole thing, he had wanted to make Romano smile more often, but now he found that he didn't mind his constant frown all that much.

“By the way, when the others arrive tomorrow, can I tell them about us?” he asked.

“Sure, why not?”

“I kind of figured you'd want to keep it a secret for a while. You know, until you were completely comfortable with it and all.”

“And what makes you think I'm uncomfortable with this?”

“Nothing! It's just that you said you aren't all that open with this stuff.”

“If we've made it to this point, I'm not going to hide it, idiot. I doubt it's going to be news to anyone who's coming. Veneziano and Spain have known for a long time now that I was interested in you, and they've probably blabbered it to everyone they know.”

“At least Italy hasn't told West because I told him, and he was really surprised. I don't think he believes in us.”

“Just shows what happens when you have mashed potatoes for brains.”

“He's my brother, you know. You could try to like him.”

Romano snorted. “I didn't like him when he was just my brother's boyfriend. I'm not going to change that because he's now my boyfriend's brother, too. He's got to make a bit of an effort first.”

The ice cream arrived, and it was just as good as Romano had promised. He had ordered them assorted fruit flavours. As Prussia was trying to name all of them, he couldn't help but marvel the fact that he was actually here, having ice cream with Romano _who was now his boyfriend._ He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do next. Did Romano expect something different from him now?

He was still wondering about this when they returned to Romano's house and started cooking because, as Romano put it, he would die of shame if there wasn't enough to eat when the others came and that meant they had to get everything done now because many dishes were better when they had stood still overnight. 

Prussia kept glancing at him as he was peeling potatoes for his pancakes. Romano was acting pretty normal, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. What did couples usually do when they were cooking together? Should he come up with some cute nickname for him? Was it okay to grab his hand if he had no reason to?

He thought back to what Germany and Italy acted like in the kitchen, but it wasn't very helpful. Somehow he had the feeling that Romano wouldn't like it if he kept wiping every surface he touched, especially since it was his kitchen.

Cooking turned out to be more work than he had expected, especially once they got more than one dish going. There were so many things to keep an eye on at the same time, which wouldn't have normally been a problem because he could be organized when he put effort into it. The issue was that Romano was very much not organized, and yet he still managed to get everything done. There was no rhyme or reason to what he was doing in the kitchen, and after a while Prussia chose to sit back and let him work because he was getting dizzy from trying to decipher Romano's next action. To him, it would have made perfect sense to get the mozzarella out well before it was time to put it on the lasagne, not wait until the last minute when you had to hurry and almost knock over the olive oil because the tomato soup couldn't be left alone for long, but this wasn't his field, so for once he kept his opinions to himself.

By the time they had the fridge full and had taken the newly arrived mattresses to the guestrooms, it was dark outside. All Prussia wanted was to collapse somewhere and sleep, but Romano forced him into the shower because he still hadn't washed the previous day's grime off himself. He felt a little more alert afterwards, but it was still heavenly to sit down and lean back on the couch by Romano's side.

“What's this?” he asked and nodded towards the TV.

“The news.”

“Yeah, but what's going on?”

“The usual,” Romano said with disgust in his voice and reached for the remote so that he could switch the channel.

“I didn't know you had this crap show, too,” Prussia said once he recognised what was on the other channel. It was Austria's stupid cop series starring a police dog. It was pretty amusing to watch it with the Italian voice over, but even that didn't improve it enough in his eyes.

“It's not that bad.”

“It's ridiculous! West loves it, but I bet that's just because of the dog.”

“You know that this is partly Italian these days, right? The new episodes take place in Rome, so stop dissing it!”

“It's still stupid. Isn't there anything else on?”

Romano switched to Rai 2 that was showing another detective series, but this one was American, so they agreed to let it run. It was dubbed and Prussia's Italian was almost non-existent, but it didn't matter because he wasn't really feeling like watching anything in the first place. The couch was comfortable, and his tired body kept telling him to lie down and go to sleep.

I should be able to endure more, he thought as hid a yawn with the back of his hand. It had been routine for him to go days without sleep in war. But maybe that was just it. What could be more relaxing than sitting on the couch with his boyfriend?

He was about to turn to Romano and say something to him, but that was when the flights, work and lack of sleep finally caught up with him. The last thing he could remember was thinking that he really didn't like Kathryn Morris' Italian voice actress all that much.

***

When Prussia woke up, he was alone on the couch. A blanket had been tossed over him, and for a moment he remained under it and contemplated whether he wanted to turn over and close his eyes again or get up. As tempting as the first option was, one big flaw in the situation was that he was alone on the couch now.

He sat up, but Romano wasn't in the living room. The kitchen was empty as well and didn't smell of coffee. When Prussia looked out the window, it was still a little dim, but the sun was already climbing up to the sky.

He left the window open and decided to surprise Romano with some awesome breakfast. At first he was going to make something himself, but then he remembered that the fridge was so full of their cooking that there wasn't anything he could use there. It was probably a better idea to get something at the café that was near the house.

The man behind the counter gave him a wide smile, and after they had exchanged a few pleasantries, Prussia realised that it was Romano's neighbour who had yelled at him the night he had come back. He didn't seem to hold a grudge, though, because he gave him a few pieces of something called _pignolata_ as a gift, saying that Romano loved it.

Romano was already in the kitchen when he got back, but Prussia was just in time to stop him from starting to make coffee.

“I got some at that place down the street, but I have no idea what it is. The guy there started laughing at me when I said I wanted coffee.”

“You can't just order coffee, stupid. You have to be more specific,” Romano grumbled and took one of the paper cups from him. He sniffed the contents, and the frown on his face faded somewhat, so Prussia guessed it was okay.

They heard the sound of a car driving down the street and then stopping. Romano moved to the window to glance outside.

“Shit,” he muttered, put away his half-finished cup of coffee and began to pull his shirt over his shoulders.

“What? What now?”

“The idiots are already here!”

Prussia peered out the window and saw France and Netherlands standing outside while Spain and Belgium were getting out of the car. Just then, France looked up and gave him a small wave with his fingers.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Romano yelled out the window. “The invitation said at two, so you shouldn't be here at least before three!”

“We decided to come early!” Spain called out. “Except for Germany who thought it would be rude, and Italy didn't want everyone else to start without him, so he's coming later, too.”

“Nobody said you could come early!”

“That's okay, we don't mind if everything isn't ready yet.”

Romano muttered curses under his breath as he tore himself away from the window and marched out of the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Prussia asked.

“To change. I can't wear the same clothes as yesterday when the others are here.”

“Why not? I'm wearing these old things, too, and I even went out to get coffee in them.”

“Yeah, well that's because you're you!”

Prussia went to open the door to the others while Romano stormed into his room. Spain was the first to enter and told him that he wanted to go to the guestrooms right away since it was at least a hundred years since he had last seen them clean. He disappeared down the hall, pulling Belgium behind him.

“So, I take it you're getting along,” France said.

“Sure we are. Why wouldn't we?”

“I know you and I know Romano. I was expecting a little more drama to greet us when we got here.”

“Obviously you don't know us well enough. We're best buddies!”

Prussia decided he wasn't going to tell France – or anyone – about the incident that had led to him going back home the other day. It was embarrassing and might make the others think that he wasn't on top of the situation. Maybe he should have told Germany to keep his mouth shut, too, but he could probably count on his brother being discreet by default.

France let out a disappointed hum when he spotted the blanket on the couch. “That may be, but I think there's still some work to be done here.”

“You two figure that out. I'm going out for a smoke,” Netherlands announced.

“Belgium didn't let him smoke in the car,” France explained once Netherlands was out of earshot. “She's such a sweetie, but she can be frighteningly furious when she feels like it.”

“Don't I know.”

“But what have you two been doing here the past two days?”

“We dragged all of Romano's old furniture and other junk to the basement. And dusted and mopped the floors and bought new mattresses. Consider yourself lucky that we threw out the old ones. They had been there for so long that some of them had got stuck to the beds.”

France made a disgusted face. “Charming, I'm sure.”

“But now you get to sleep on perfect, new mattresses. I guess you'll have to bunk with Netherlands because I bet Spain and Belgium will want to share a room, and I'm probably going to be with West.”

“Won't he be with Italy?”

“I don't know, I think there's some arrangement that Romano and Italy like to share the bed or something like that. I'm not too sure about it.”

He wouldn't mind if he got to share the bed with Romano that night. There were only three guestrooms with two beds in each, so somebody would have to stay with Romano or on the couch. He was a little afraid to ask, though, because this was still such a new thing for them and sleeping in the same bed implied a lot of things. He wasn't sure if Romano wanted to do that now when so many of their closest friends were staying at his house.

But maybe it was a pointless worry. Romano _had_ said that it was okay to tell everyone, so maybe he'd be okay with that, too.

Since they had some six hours before Germany and Italy would arrive, they decided to go out to watch some sights while they waited. Romano showed them around and told them some story about every place they visited. He tried to act like he didn't give a damn about anything, but Prussia didn't miss the way he kept glancing at them to make sure they were suitably impressed.

When they got back to Romano's house, it was still too early to have dinner, at least by Italian standards. Prussia was starving, but he forgot all about it when he saw Germany and Italy walk down the street and approach the gate that led to Romano's small garden. He immediately ran to the living room and yelled at everyone to get there.

“Guys, I've got a really big announcement to make! Let's just wait until West and Italy are here,” he said.

“I'm sorry if we're late, but –” Germany said as soon as he was through the door, but Prussia wasn't going to give him the time to finish.

“Hey, West! Guess who has the most awesome boyfriend in the world!”

“What?”

“He does!” Prussia grabbed Romano by the arm and pulled him to his side. “And so do I!”

Later, he wouldn't be able to tell who reacted first, other than that it wasn't Germany or Netherlands who both took the news much more calmly than anyone else. Italy let out a wild whoop and jumped at Romano, knocking him over so that they were both on the floor. They were quickly joined by Spain who ruffled Romano's hair and Belgium who was smiling from ear to ear.

“I knew you could do it!” Spain said.

“Finally you actually did something about it,” Italy added.

Prussia pouted. “They're acting like he did all the work,” he grumbled to France.

“He's probably the one who went through more turmoil because of this.”

“If you had any idea what I've been through, you'd all be telling me I'm the best and most patient guy in the world. But I guess it would be pretty pointless to state the obvious.”

He glanced at Germany who looked like he was starting to develop a headache from all the noise the others were making. Netherlands approached him and offered him a cigarette, but Germany declined after a hesitant pause, mumbling something about how he had stopped smoking decades ago.

“Now is your time to congratulate me,” Prussia said to his brother. “I was right all along, and you were totally wrong. We should have bet on this.”

“There's no point in placing a bet if you don't want to win.”

“What, I thought you were against this the whole time?”

“I wasn't _against_ it,” Germany said. “I was just worried. I still am, but I suppose that if you made it to this point, it might work. Now I can start worrying about the combined headaches you two are going to give me.”

“No need to start worrying just yet because I know I'm not going to have the time to bug you for a while. I'm going to be focusing on someone else entirely.”

He figured this was a good time to rescue Romano from the others before he blew up at them. He shooed Italy and Spain away and pulled Romano to his feet, receiving an irritated glare as Romano blew a few strands of hair from his face.

“I said it was okay to tell them, but you didn't have to make such a fucking show out of it.”

“Aww, don't be grumpy, Romano. Everyone's just happy that you're happy,” Italy said.

“Whatever. At least this is now over with.” From the way his face kept twitching, Prussia could tell that Romano was doing his best not to smile. He was so damn adorable. If the others hadn't been there, he would have kissed him.

Their party was actually more of a normal get-together as nobody had in mind to get consume so much alcohol that it might become a problem. They compensated for that by eating. Prussia had thought that Romano had overdone it with everything he had cooked, but now he realised that they might actually have to go out to eat the following day because everything was disappearing so fast.

That night, he was lounging on the couch and watching everybody else drift off to their rooms. They hadn't talked about it, but he assumed it was an unspoken agreement that he would be bunking with Germany. France and Netherlands had agreed to share a room but only on the condition that France kept his hands to himself and Netherlands wouldn't smoke his pipe in the room because France didn't want the smell to get stuck to his hair. If either of them broke the rule, he would be kicked to the couch.

Germany had already retired into their room. For a moment, Prussia listened to Romano and Italy talk about something in the kitchen, but then he decided he might just as well get to bed, too.

“Cool mattresses, huh? I picked them,” he said as he hopped down on his bed.

“I hope they weren't expensive. I overheard Romano saying that you paid for half of them.”

“Who cares what they cost? That was my start of a relationship present for him. And if you had seen what the old ones were like, you would have offered to pay for all of these just to get those things thrown into the dumpster.”

“Maybe they could have been recycled and used for something else.”

“Not those fleabags, West. Take my word for it.”

Germany turned off the light, and Prussia fell back on his bed with a happy sigh. It had been such a wonderful day, and he couldn't wait to see what would happen next. It was a strange feeling to have something to look forward to.

“West, do you want to know what my favourite thing about Romano is?”

“I want to sleep.”

“I'm actually having a hard time choosing just one. Because if I name one, then it kind of implies that the other things aren't just as good, and –”

“Prussia, please.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. I'll tell you in the morning.”

He barely had the time to close his eyes before the door was slammed open and he received a knee to his stomach as someone jumped on the bed. He let out a pained groan and tried to curl up into a ball, but he couldn't because of the weight on him.

“Eek, who is this? Germany, there's some mysterious person in this bed, and I jumped on him!”

“It's just Prussia.”

“Don't be silly! Of course it's not Prussia. Prussia is in Romano's bed because they're dating and couples always sleep in the same room. That's why I'm here. Or... or are you having an affair with this mysterious person? Please tell me you aren't!”

“It's really me, Ita-cakes,” Prussia said.

“Oh, good!” Italy said with a sigh of relief. “No, wait, it's bad! Why are you here?”

“I don't know. I figured that –”

“Go into Romano's room! His bed is really big and nice.”

“But –”

And then he was shoved off the bed while Italy began to chatter to Germany about how they should move the beds side by side because it was more comfortable that way and he was pretty sure Spain and Belgium had already done that. He had no choice but to exit and start advancing towards Romano's bedroom.

“Hey,” he said as he opened the door and poked his head in.

Romano sat up on the bed and turned to glare at him.

“Where the hell have you been?”

At least it sounded like he was expected here. And why wouldn't he be? They were dating; he shouldn't be walking on his toes anymore.

“I kind of thought you wouldn't want me here because then everyone would know that, uh...” Damn, there was no way to say this without sounding like an idiot. There was nothing that staying in Romano's room would imply that wasn't obvious to everybody who knew they were together. “Actually, I just figured I'd be a total gentleman and give you some space!”

“Who said I need some damn space? Get in here and close that door. There's a draft.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Climbing into the bed was a strange feeling. It was nice and big and warm like Italy had said, but it was odd to think that he was in the same bed as Romano. It was probably the most intimate thing they had done so far. Once again, he couldn't help but wonder what he should do next. Was it okay to just go to sleep, or should they talk about something first? Should he get closer? When would they have sex?

“Fuck, your toes are cold. That had better be because you just walked here. If it's going to be like this with you every time, I'm not having it.”

“I could start wearing socks to bed.”

“Do that.”

It was quiet for a moment. “Okay, so what's our next step?” Prussia asked.

“What step?”

“I mean, what's going to happen next? I only have relationships with people who are just as awesome as me, so it's been a while. My skills with this might be a little outdated. But not much.”

“I don't know. After the previous fuck-ups, I guess it would be nice if things went smoothly for a while, but I'm not holding my breath. Just... If there's some problem, we should probably try to solve it together instead of the stupid solo stuff that almost ruined everything.”

“Sure, I can do that. Can you promise that you won't dump me without hearing me out if I do something really stupid?”

“That goes without saying, idiot.”

“If I'm being completely honest, no it doesn't. You can be difficult.”

“Fair enough,” Romano said with a pout. “But you're going to have to promise me one thing, too. I say a lot of things when I'm angry, but I don't usually mean them. Just tell me if some shit I say bugs you because I don't actually want to hurt you.”

“Haven't I been doing that already?”

“Yeah, but I'm just making sure because you're so stupid!”

Prussia laughed and reached out to turn off the light on the nightstand. He leaned closer to Romano and enjoyed the feeling of him not pulling away from his touch.


	20. Chapter 20

Prussia kept watching Romano from the corner of his eye as they were sitting on the couch and enjoying a movie. Or trying to. He had the feeling that neither of them was really into it. Romano clearly had something on his mind, and that in turn made Prussia too curious to concentrate on the action flick that he had picked.

“Okay, what's up?” he asked after he had been observing Romano gnaw on his lip for a few good minutes. He hadn't seen him this nervous since they had got together a few weeks ago, and he couldn't imagine what had suddenly crawled up his ass.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, right. I bet you don't even know what the main character's name is in this movie.”

“Maybe I just don't give a shit about this piece of crap. You picked it.”

“Or maybe you're acting like an asshole because you're worried about something but too stubborn to just say it.”

Romano pressed his lips into a tight line and turned to glare at the TV. Prussia didn't press the matter, knowing that Romano would speak up soon if he wanted to. And if he was this nervous about something, he would open his mouth sooner or later.

Finally, Romano let out a frustrated sigh, but he still wouldn't look at him. “Remember all that shit I used to write in my notebooks?”

Of course Prussia remembered. He had been thinking about the stories a lot, especially after they had started sleeping together. He was dying to know if Romano really was into that sort of thing or if he'd just been writing them for fun, but he was afraid to ask. He figured it was a sore subject, especially since the only reason he knew about them was that he had stolen that one book. As curious as he was, he had decided that it was up to Romano to bring that topic up so that he'd have control over his own privacy this time.

“What? Oh, those. Yeah, sure.”

“Right, so... What did you think of them?”

“I told you they were hot. I mean, they sort of started getting me interested in you in the first place. Not that I'm only into you because of them or anything, but –”

“Yeah, cut the crap. I know. But would you actually like to try out something like that?”

“What?”

“You heard me the first time!”

“Yeah, but I didn't think... I mean, you got so upset when I brought those stories up the last time that I didn't think you'd want to have anything to do with them anymore.”

“That's just because I thought you were after nothing else but that, idiot. I wouldn't do something like that with just anyone.”

Romano had a point there, and Prussia knew that if he had thought this far back in the beginning, they would have been saved a lot of trouble. After reading the stories, he had quickly realised that Romano wanted a relationship. What he hadn't figured out was that a relationship in which he was comfortable letting someone have so much power over him couldn't materialize out of thin air.

If Romano was asking this, it had to mean that he trusted him enough now. It was a thought that left Prussia with an excited flutter in his stomach. He had dabbled in this type of thing occasionally, but it was mostly a new area to him, one he couldn't wait to explore.

“Have you done it before?” he asked.

“A few times,” Romano said, crossing his arms on his his chest and pouting awkwardly. “But it's not really the... I mean, I trusted those guys, but it just wasn't what I was after.”

“Of course not because they weren't me! I'm the best!”

To emphasize his words, Prussia crawled over to Romano's side of the couch and leaned over him to press his chin on the other's shoulder.

“And sure I want to try it out.”

“How's tonight?”

“Tonight? Isn't that a bit... sudden?”

Romano snorted. “Yeah, but you're going back to Berlin the day after. If something goes wrong, I'd rather do the damage control here tomorrow than over the phone later.”

“Right, good planning,” Prussia said. “But nothing's going to go wrong because I'm here! It'll be perfect, much better than in all of your stories combined!”

“It had better!”

“I haven't disappointed you so far, have I?”

Romano muttered something inaudible under his breath. He shifted so that Prussia could no longer lean on him. “But there's some stuff we have to talk about first.”

“Like what?”

“It's not that I don't trust you, but I think –”

“Oh, you want a safeword? Yeah, I guess that's a good idea. Which word?”

“...potato.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it's the unsexiest word I can think of, so there's no fucking chance of me saying it in bed unless it's serious!”

“But what if you'll call me a potato bastard? Does that count?”

“Since when have I called you that when we're having sex? The word is the biggest turn-off ever! The only time I'll ever mention potatoes is if I want you to stop right away.”

“Fair enough. So, how do you want to do this?”

“I don't know. I guess you could tie me to the bed and then come up with something. The whole point is that you're calling the shots.”

They moved to Romano's bedroom where Romano sat down on the bed with an expectant look on his face. Prussia was about to ask if Romano had any spare rope around, but then he spotted a tie that had been tossed on the windowsill and grabbed it.

“I guess this will do,” he said and tested it in his hands.

“That was goddamn expensive, so don't tear it.”

“That depends on you and how much you want to struggle in the bonds. Now lie down on that bed.” Prussia made a quick decision. “On your back.”

Romano did as he was told, and Prussia climbed on the bed to tie his wrists to the bedposts. The wood was dark with age, and he couldn't help but wonder if it would hold in case Romano really got into it – and he would because this was going to be the fulfilment of his fantasies! Maybe they'd have to go back to the shop where they had got the mattresses and buy a new bed this time.

“Crap, maybe I should have made you take off this shirt first,” he said as he was fastening the tie. Now he wouldn't be able to remove it without tearing it, and since Romano had just bought it last week, he had the feeling that trying that would make him scream potato at the top of his lungs right away. “But you look really hot in it, so I guess we can leave it on.”

He shifted so that he was straddling Romano's knees and looked down at him. Just seeing him there, still fully clothed but in such a vulnerable position was making him feel all kinds of weird.

“I guess I should have asked this earlier, but is there anything you absolutely don't want me to do, no matter what?” he asked.

Romano stopped flexing his fingers and thought it over. “Uh... Don't do anything that'll draw blood because I'm not into that and... Don't pee on me or anything like that, I guess.”

“Can do,” Prussia said.

He remained sitting where he was and thought over the situation. He wasn't sure what his next move should be. As much as he had been looking forward to this, he wasn't exactly aroused by any of this yet, and neither was Romano. He would have to do something. The problem was that it was now all in his hands. He had very little to react to, no Romano's fingers in his hair or hot kisses travelling down his body.

“Well, what the hell are you waiting for?” Romano asked.

Prussia grinned nervously. “I don't know what to do next.”

“What, do you need a manual for this or what?”

“Hey, that's a great idea! I'll just grab one of your stories and we'll act it out! Where are they?”

“There's a notebook in the drawer.”

“Hehe, have you been reading about us before going to sleep?” Prussia stretched his arm so that he could open the drawer and take out a thin notebook without moving from on top of Romano. He browsed to a random page. “Okay, here we go. 'His fingers danced down to my erection and –'”

“Don't read it out loud, dammit!”

“Why not?”

“I don't want to hear my own writing quoted back at me when we're having sex! That shit is embarrassing enough already.”

“I think it would be hot if someone did that to me.”

“Yeah, well I don't have an overblown ego like you.”

“I guess that's just as well. I don't really know how to make my fingers dance anyway.” Prussia began to leaf through the notebook, looking for inspiration. “You know, you're a lot more submissive in these stories.”

“And you've actually got your shit together in them, so what's your point?”

“Okay, that's enough out of you,” Prussia said, deciding that he might just as well raise the stakes. “I don't want to hear anything but moans come out of your mouth except if I ask you a question.”

“And what if I don't comply?”

“Then I'm going to punish you.”

Prussia reached for the buttons on Romano's shirt and began to play with them, unbuttoning them slowly and letting the fabric fall aside and reveal Romano's chest. He placed his hands against his skin but didn't do anything. It was surprisingly difficult to decide what to do when he had had no time to plan this.

“Is there anything in here we can play with?” he asked.

Romano's only answer was turning to glare to his side.

“That was a question.” To emphasize his words, Prussia's fingers darted to catch Romano's right nipple and squeeze it. When Romano still wouldn't give him an answer, he applied more pressure until the other grimaced in discomfort and shifted in an attempt to get away from him. When that didn't work and when Prussia didn't stop, he finally groaned in pained defeat and nodded towards the closet.

“There's some stuff there.”

Prussia got off the bed and went to look. Under some clothes, he found a carefully hidden box, very much like the one he still had under his bed in Berlin. As he started digging into it, he realised that the receipt for the various items was still inside. He glanced at it in curiosity, only to discover that the contents of the box had been bought a few weeks ago. Despite that, everything was still unwrapped. Romano must have been planning this for a while now and had just been waiting for the right time.

As he turned to look back at his boyfriend's form on the bed, he also realised something else. Romano had placed so much responsibility into his hands by agreeing to this. He trusted him, and now he had to prove that he was worthy of that trust. He couldn't screw this up.

For a moment he felt tempted to call the whole thing off so that he'd have time to plan what he'd do. Romano would be okay with that, even if he'd grumble at first. But the nervousness that was mixed with his excitement only made him more determined to show that he could do this and that it would be just as good as Romano had imagined. If he could think on his feet on the battlefield, he could do it in bed, too!

He took another look inside the closet and grabbed another one of Romano's ties. He placed the box on the floor by the bed, out of Romano's range of vision, and moved to wrap the tie around his head to cover his eyes.

“Some things will have to stay a surprise,” he said. 

Later they would have to figure out some other way of calling everything off if necessary so that he they could use gags. This time he'd just have to let Romano run his mouth as much as he wanted so that he could use the safeword.

“Your surprises always suck.”

“These will be great. And I don't think I said it's okay for you to talk. So keep quiet except when you're moaning in pleasure at the things I'm about to do. If you play nice, I might allow you to call out my name.”

“Yeah, right!” 

Romano wriggled into a more upright position, but Prussia immediately pushed him back down. He pinned his shoulders against the mattress and climbed to sit on top of his thighs so that he couldn't do much to struggle.

It appeared that covering his eyes was something that Romano found arousing. His cheeks had developed a redder tint, and his chest was rising and falling faster in rhythm with his breathing. Prussia let his hands trace down Romano's sides and wondered why he liked it. He hated being helpless, so the thought of someone restraining him like that was more than a little unnerving.

Maybe it was just as well, he thought as he leaned closer to place a rough kiss on Romano's throat and felt him tense under him. Being in control was what turned _him_ on, so this further proved that they were the perfect match.

He travelled down Romano's skin, planting kisses along the way as he moved over his chest and towards his stomach. The further down he went, the rougher he got, and finally he got the pleasure of hearing Romano groan at the back of his throat as he grazed him with his teeth hard enough to leave a red mark.

Feeling mischievous, he raised his frame and hopped off the bed to rummage through the box on the floor. He made as much noise as he could on purpose so that Romano would get a hint of what he was looking at but wouldn't know which items he eventually decided on. 

Since it was their first time trying this out, he figured he'd go easier on him than in the stories he'd read. In Romano's fantasies, there was a lot of emphasis on how he knew how far he could push him, but they hadn't reached that point in reality. Better not risk doing anything stupid.

A plan forming on his mind, he settled for a few vibrators of different sizes and placed them on the nightstand for later use. He circled the bed until he was sitting down to Romano's left and leaning down to kiss him, this time on the mouth. He grabbed the sides of his face and tilted his head up for a better angle, smirking at the quiet whine that Romano let out as he pulled away.

“Fucking tease,” Romano muttered. “Get on with it or we'll be here all night and the circulation in my hands is going to get cut off!”

It was tempting to throw a line at that, but Prussia held back. He began to hum to himself as he slowly started to work on Romano's trousers to get them off. There was a gasp from Romano as he became free of the restraining fabric and Prussia's hands momentarily brushed against his already half-hard member. 

Prussia wanted to cackle. The poor thing probably thought that things were about to develop a faster pace.

He stopped for a moment to admire the scene before him. Romano was lying there, hands tied to the bedpost and naked save for the shirt that they had been forced to leave on. But Prussia found he preferred it that way; the white cloth created a nice contrast with Romano's tanned skin. His face was half hidden under the blindfold, but it was another detail Prussia only now realised that he liked. Romano had such intense eyes that it was easy to get lost in them, but now he'd get to see all of his sensations reflected on the shape of his mouth, the way his cheeks coloured and how he'd crane his neck.

Time to get to work to get some of those reactions he wanted to see. Prussia knelt at the end of the bed between Romano's legs and pushed them apart. He was impatient by nature, so he had to concentrate to keep things slow and not grab him right away. Damn, he hadn't realised this would take such an effort from his part, but he liked testing his character.

He let his hands rest on Romano's knees for a while before sliding them up his thighs to his hips. He pressed his thumbs into his flesh, not hard enough to bruise, but there was enough pressure to make Romano squirm to get away. Prussia wondered what it was like to be so helpless and unable to see what was happening. He was sure that if their places had been the other way around, he would have already kicked the person doing this, either out of instinct or because he just didn't like it.

But Romano liked it. Prussia didn't have to do much more than grab his length and give it a few slow strokes to make it fully erect, and the faster breathing and needy whimpers that Romano was doing his best to silence told him all he needed to know. A thin coat of sweat had risen to his skin.

“I haven't even done anything to you, and you're already such a mess,” he said and ran his thumb over the tip of Romano's member.

“Just... shut up.”

Prussia was glad that Romano couldn't see him right now. He liked teasing Romano about the way he blushed, but the truth was that out of the two of them, it was he who grew a darker shade of red. His pale skin always betrayed him. And right now he was sure he was glowing with his arousal, and he hadn't even been touched yet. It was stupid and embarrassing.

“Let's see what will happen if we do something a little more,” he said in order to give Romano a hint so that he wouldn't be completely taken by surprise.

He reached to grab one of the vibrators on the nightstand. It was the smallest one in the box, only a little thicker than his finger. He figured he could use it without much preparation.

There was a bottle of lubricant in the box on the floor. He opened it and poured some on his fingers before settling back between Romano's legs. He waited a moment to make sure Romano could guess what was coming and plunged a finger inside to smear some of the lubricant into him.

Romano let out a surprised sound at the swift entrance, but he didn't complain except when Prussia withdrew almost as fast as he had entered. He didn't want to give Romano the time to get used to his finger because he was planning to let the small vibrator do the work for him.

He covered the toy in lubricant and began to push it inside, enjoying the way Romano gasped at the contact and the hard item moving into him.

“Okay, let's leave that in there for a moment,” he said but didn't turn the toy on. He moved upwards until he could reach to kiss Romano and tug at his lips with his teeth. 

Romano tried to move and rub his knee against Prussia's crotch. It was tempting to let him because heat was pooling between his legs and making him yearn for some friction, but he wasn't about to let Romano have even that bit of control over him that night.

For a moment, there was nothing but kissing, awkward grinding, moans and his hands everywhere he could put them on Romano's body. He missed the feeling of the other's fingers curling to tug at his hair the way they usually did, but Romano straining against him to get more of his touches was equally satisfying, just in a different way.

Prussia pulled away, a little out of breath, and moved back to the foot of the bed. He let his legs brush against Romano's erection but didn't otherwise acknowledge it, even when the contact against the fabric made Romano growl in frustration.

He pulled the vibrator out with a wet sound and grabbed the next one. It was larger in size and would give Romano a feeling of fullness, unlike the first one. With one swift movement, he lifted Romano's right leg over his shoulder to get better access and pushed the toy into him, slowing down when he felt Romano tense at the sudden intrusion but never stopping.

“And now let's see if my estimate is correct,” he said and turned on the vibrator.

Judging by the way Romano cried out and how his body jerked in his hold, he figured that he had been a little off. He didn't want the toy to touch his prostate yet, so he pulled it out just enough so that it wasn't in direct contact with the spot.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Romano asked, squirming against the arm that was holding his hips off the bed and stopping him from trying to push the toy deeper.

“Being awesome,” Prussia replied. For a moment, he considered tying Romano's legs to the bed as well to stop him from moving so much, but he decided against it. It was too much fun to see him wriggle, and he doubted he'd be able to do anything about the vibrator without the use of his hands.

He let go and got off the bed, but not before turning the toy to the highest setting. “And now I'm off to have a drink. I'll leave the door open, so just yell if there's a problem.”

“What, you're leaving?”

“Just for a minute.”

“Don't you dare! Come back!”

Prussia walked down the stairs and stopped at the door to the kitchen.

“Can you hear me?” he called out.

The string of profanities that he received as a reply told him the answer and that he'd have no trouble hearing it if Romano truly wanted him to come back and put an end to it. He replied in a cheery tone so that Romano would know he could hear and that he hadn't been left all alone and then opened the fridge to get some juice.

The cold liquid felt wonderful against his throat. He hadn't even realised how much he had been enjoying himself, but as he reached up to brush some hair off his forehead, he could feel the strands be sticky with his sweat. The constant throbbing in his crotch was making him want to take off his trousers before things got painful down there, but he was determined not to. For once he'd not be selfish. He would ignore his needs until Romano had been sated. He could do it. He'd been through worse back when he'd lived in celibacy.

He kept listening to sounds from upstairs because he didn't want to miss anything. Despite the fact that he knew he could hear everything, he couldn't help but be a little nervous. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to leave like this when it was their first time trying this out. If something went wrong now, it would be entirely his fault.

After nearly five minutes had passed, he couldn't stand it any longer. He filled a glass with juice so that Romano could have something to drink after they were done and returned upstairs. He almost ran up the last few steps and then stopped at the entrance to the bedroom.

Romano turned his head to his direction as he heard him. Judging from the mess the sheets had become, he had done his best to wriggle in a way that would push the vibrator into a more pleasurable position inside him, but Prussia could tell it hadn't worked. Romano was still fully erect, and his face was marred by a frustrated grimace. 

Panting, Romano ceased his struggling and collapsed on the bed, his hands hanging limply in the tie around them.

“Bastard...”

“What, is there a problem?”

“I fucking hate you!”

“Okay, then maybe I'll leave and come back later.”

“Do that and I'm not letting you into my house until goddamn Christmas!”

“Well, it's only a few months away.”

“In 2050!”

“Sheesh, okay, okay. But we're doing this at my pace, so don't think you can tell me what to do.”

“Just do _something!_ ”

“I had no idea a little toy like this would make you so desperate and needy,” Prussia said as he sat down on the bed and gave Romano's knee a few rough pats. “I can't wait to see what a big toy will do.”

He turned off the vibrator and pulled it out. The third and last one he wanted to use was the largest in the box and quite an upgrade from the second one. He had felt a little unsure about picking it when he had been going through the items, but he figured that since Romano had bought it, he had to be at least interested in trying it out. He supposed they'd just have to see what happened.

He smeared the vibrator with some lubricant and grabbed Romano's leg like he had done before. Though he had already been stretched by the other toys, he tensed when Prussia pressed the third one against his entrance, having recognised which one it was.

Prussia waited a moment to see if there would be an objection, but as none came, he began to work the toy into Romano's passage. The other's breath got caught in his throat and the leg in Prussia's hold twitched, making him stop and pull the vibrator out.

“You okay?” he asked. He reasoned that if he weren't, he'd be yelling potato at him loud enough to let the neighbours hear, but maybe he was trying to put up with it for his sake? Romano had a lot of issues he still didn't understand, so maybe he thought he'd be a disappointment if he called this off?

“Yeah,” Romano replied, out of breath.

“Are you sure? We don't have to do this. If you have any –”

“I know what to do if I want you to stop, so quit wasting time and get on with it! You're ruining it with all this whining.”

Prussia felt his anger flare up, but he swallowed the frustrated words and spent a moment collecting himself. Maybe Romano had a point. Just like Romano trusted him to stop if he asked him to, he should trust Romano to tell him if anything he did was too much for him.

“Okay then!” he declared. “This baby is going in!”

He pressed the toy against Romano's entrance once more and started to work it into him. He was slower than with the other vibrators and kept watching Romano's face for signs of discomfort. He saw his fingers curl around the bedpost as the toy moved deeper into him, and small sounds, not quite whimpers but close, escaped from the back of his throat.

Prussia felt torn. He was pretty sure this was causing Romano at least some pain, but he seemed to like it anyway. However, he didn't think it was the pain that made Romano desire something like this. Prussia had met guys like that, and Romano didn't strike him as the type. But none of it mattered now because despite everything, his touches were making Romano feel good, and that was all he wanted to care about.

He didn't let go of Romano's leg even after the vibrator was fully inside. He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against Romano's knee, listening to his gulps of breath as he slowly adjusted to the feeling of fullness. Once he was sure that he was fine, he turned on the toy.

“Aah!”

Romano's leg almost slipped from his hold as his hips jerked, but Prussia clung to him and grinned against his leg. He gave it a quick lick, but he didn't think Romano even noticed. He was writhing on the bed, and moans that he was no longer trying to hold back filled the room. Prussia hoped that the neighbours didn't mind. He had really grown to like the freebies they often got at the café down the street.

To heck with his self-control. He figured he had been patient, and the fire that was spreading from between his legs to the tips of his fingers would consume him soon if he didn't do something. That, and his trousers were really starting to get painfully tight.

He tore off his jeans and underwear and tossed them on the floor, nearly falling off the bed in his haste. Feeling his heart beat and fill him with a throbbing need, he returned between Romano's legs and leaned over him.

“What... what are you doing now?” Romano asked in a breathy voice and shifted so that Prussia had more space, but Prussia could tell that he was a little worried. Maybe he thought he wanted to try double penetration like in that one story he had written.

“Relax, just this.”

“What exactly – nngh!”

The only reason Prussia didn't moan together with Romano as he grabbed their lengths and rubbed them together was that he had been prepared for it. But he couldn't keep quiet for much longer. It always surprised him how good this could feel, how the friction threatened to turn him into a trembling mess.

He pressed their bodies together and moaned Romano's name against his chest. His mind kept telling him that he should slow down or it would be over too fast, but he couldn't stop his hands from stroking and pulling at skin as their hips were grinding against each other.

“F-fuck, can't you just – Aah, I don't – ”

Prussia tried to laugh at Romano's needy tone, but he was too out of breath, and the only sound that came out was more of a pant. He reached down to give the vibrator inside Romano a push at the same time as his other hand ran over the tip of his member. From the way the pitch of Romano's voice changed and how he arched his back, he could tell that it wouldn't be much longer until he was over the edge.

Romano finished first, but Prussia wasn't far behind. The burst of heat made him momentarily unaware of everything, and he slumped against Romano's body, panting and regaining his thoughts.

“That was... awesome,” he said once he had caught his breath enough to put more than two syllables together.

The reply he got from Romano was incomprehensible, but he was sure he had liked it, too. Prussia would have very much preferred to remain there on top of him and just float in the pleasant tiredness, but it didn't take long before Romano began to squirm in a way that made it impossible.

“Get that out of me,” Romano said, and Prussia remembered that the vibrator was still on. He figured it probably wasn't all that nice against his over-stimulated prostate.

“Why should I?”

“Come on, don't screw with me. I'm done.”

Prussia might have normally indulged in some more teasing, but Romano was always mellow after sex, so it wasn't fun anymore. Plus, if he pissed him off now, he would have some kind of revenge later, and right now he just wanted to enjoy their remaining time together before he had to go back to Berlin.

He turned off the vibrator and took it out before moving to the head of the bed to untie Romano's hands. He was expecting him to immediately tear off the blindfold, so he was a little surprised when he just slumped at the bed, not even bothering to rub his wrists.

“Hey, you okay?”

It could be that Romano was just tired, but maybe he had gone a little too far after all. Maybe he should have just –

Romano's hands reached out towards the sound of his voice and found his head, pulling him down into a kiss. Prussia let out a pleasantly surprised sound and slipped off the blindfold to finally get a look at Romano's eyes.

“Amazing, wasn't it?”

“It'll do.”

“Come on, you could at least admit that you loved it!”

Romano sat up and took a look around, making a disgusted face as he turned his eyes to himself.

“You came on my shirt.”

“You were blindfolded. You can't know it was me. Maybe it was you, or both of us.”

Romano turned to glare at him. “No. I'm Italian. It's in my blood that I don't make a mess on a Truzzi!”

“Don't worry about it. I'll buy you a new one if you can't wash it.” Really, it was just a damn shirt. It couldn't be all that expensive.

Romano took off the shirt and tried to toss it over the chair, but his aim was a little off, and the shirt fell to the floor. For a moment, he eyed it in irritation before deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble to get out of bed.

“Pick that up for me,” he said.

“I'm not your maid. And my quota of doing stuff for you tonight is pretty full.”

Romano shifted at his words. “We don't have to do this again. There's no point if you're just indulging me, so –”

“Hey, whoa. I liked it, okay? I wouldn't do things that I don't like just to please someone else. Except if it was someone I really liked and it wasn't any trouble, but I think there are enough sex acts in the world that we both like, so we don't have to start doing things we don't like unless we've never done it before and just want to find out if we like it or not.”

“Are you done rambling?”

“Yeah.”

“Good because I'm going to sleep.”

Prussia realised that he was still just sitting on the edge of the bed, so he hurried to dive under the covers by Romano's side. If things went as usual, they'd sleep until noon, have coffee and then fight over who had to change the sheets and wash their toys. Since the following day was the last they could spent together in a while, he was pretty sure they'd just end up making another mess right after either one had cleaned up the first one, and then it would start all over again.

“Oh, right, I brought some juice for you in case you're thirsty.”

Romano grabbed the glass. As Prussia lied down on the bed and listened to him drink, he wondered if there was something he should have said or done.

His attention was drawn to Romano's wrists. The tie had left red marks on his skin, and he guessed it would be at least a few days before they were gone.

“You should have told me it was too tight,” he said.

“Bullshit. It was fine.”

They spent a few more moments talking about other things, like how they had to go shopping the following day and when they'd get another chance to spend a weekend together, but after a while it became clear that Romano was too tired to stay up.

Prussia wasn't normally affectionate after sex. His preferred method was getting the job done, wrapping himself up in a blanket and snoring the night away. However, Romano wasn't happy with that, and he had made it known very early in their relationship. Or maybe he just wanted an excuse for sleeping all over the bed and throwing his limbs over Prussia's stomach in the middle of the night. Either way, Prussia didn't complain when Romano curled up into a sleepy ball by his side and rested his cheek against his arm.

He wasn't really all that tired since the whole thing hadn't been physically demanding for him, but he had the talent of falling asleep any time and anywhere, so he was already half-way there when he felt Romano poke at his side.

“Hm?”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For doing that. It's not... I mean, not everyone would –”

“You know I'm not just anyone. It was fun, and I want to do it again later. I just have to come up with some ideas first. Wouldn't want it to get repetitive.”

Romano snorted in a way that sounded all too much like a relieved sigh in Prussia's ears. Maybe they'd talk more the next day and go more into detail about what they both wanted out of these new activities, but he didn't really care about that now.

Hehe, I was right all along, he thought as Romano began to snore by his side. He had made Romano's fantasies come true, just like he had promised that first time he had come to see him in Rome. He had just taken a long detour, got lost on the way and ended up in a different destination than he had planned, but details like that were irrelevant as long as the battle had been victorious.


End file.
